When we learned about hearing, I thought it was interesting how sound can be both a physical and perceptual occurrence. I actually saw a commercial on TV about a DJ who was deaf. It got me thinking about how people who are deaf can still "hear" music. Obviously there are famous artists who have had very successful careers despite ever being able to hear the music the same way; Beethoven. I looked up some information and I found an article that related "hearing" to vibrations. People who cannot hear, can still feel the vibrations of the music and their experience the same feeling of please as those who can actually hear the sounds of the music. It was found that both deaf and non-deaf students had the same brain activity when feeling vibrations. However, it was also found that the deaf students showed activity in the auditory cortex which normally would only be active when subjected to sound or "auditory stimulation". The hearing students did not experience this activity.
Some other side facts about hearing loss and deafness; many famous artists and musicians are actually deaf or nearly (or partially) deaf. Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, Barbara Streiand, Brian Wilson.
And Alexander Bell (inventor of the phone), his wife suffered from hearing impairment as well.
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Heather Whitestone is another good example. I know she is not in music but she was a dancer so she relied on the cues from the music to keep in sync with her performance. I have always thought this subject was neat and wanted to know more about it.
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