Temporal Lobe (Hearing Things)

Temporal Lobe: The temporal lobe assists in process sound and language, so it shapes how we understand words, tone, and meaning. In this lobe, hearing turns to interpretation, which is why what we hear can stay with us, even after the moment passes.

What do you hear when the world makes judgments about who you are? I once believed that hearing was a passive thing, like the sound of rain hitting the car window. But in the classroom and the courtroom, hearing is judgment, prophecy, permission, or denial, and you carry it long after the person who uttered the words has forgotten that they did so.

I think I first heard it in fragments, like sound bites that clung to my skin. I think I first heard the way children imitated the way I paused between words, like an accent, like I was some form of entertainment. I think I first heard an adult laugh and say that I was “too quiet” for a job that demands argument. Later, I heard something sharper, said with the confidence of someone who thought they were being realistic. You will never be a lawyer if you cannot speak without struggling. The sentence felt like a verdict, and for a while, I treated it like one.

And then there were the other kinds of hearing. The kind that held me up. I heard my mom tell someone over the phone that I was going to college, the University of Michigan, that I was going to make it, that she did not cross oceans for me to fail. I heard the word first generation said out loud in rooms where I used to feel invisible, and instead of making it sound like a weakness, it sounded like a title I had earned. When I found out I would be attending the University of Michigan, I didn’t just read it. I heard it. I heard it in my own head first, and then in my family’s voices, louder than every doubt that had ever tried to be instilled in me.

And then I started to hear new things through my work with clients. I would hear staff whispering that the client could not sign because of their capacity. I would hear the word “incapacitated” thrown around like it was a simple thing, like it was a door that could be shut without explanation. I would see how fast the talking would begin in meetings about the client, instead of to the client.In meetings, I noticed how quickly people started speaking about the client instead of to the client. Hearing became the moment where autonomy could slip away. It was a privilege to hear. It was in the act of hearing that I began to understand that in the law, what we hear can inform us about what we think is possible for a person.

Although it’s a passive experience, the brain does not process hearing as a neutral experience. The temporal lobe plays a role in sound and language processing. It plays a role in how we process recognition of words, tone, and social intent. A model of speech processing indicates how the temporal systems play a role in the recognition of speech for comprehension, and other systems play a role in sound recognition and speech production, thus why hearing equates so quickly with meaning (Hickok & Poeppel, 2007). That is why a sentence can be remembered for years. Your brain does not store it as noise, it stores it as information.

This also helps explain why being mocked for a stutter can be more than just embarrassing. Humans are naturally programmed to sense belonging, so when your speech is mocked by someone who imitates your pauses or laughs at your voice, your brain will sense a social threat. A social threat can trigger a stress response. Now, stress response can impact your fluency of speech. This creates a self-reinforcing effect. You now understand that your speech will cause you pain. This means your body will start preparing for a painful experience even before you start talking. Have you ever mentally rehearsed a sentence in your mind because you were trying not to be judged? This is your brain trying to control a response. 

This is also why positive affirmations carry so much weight. When your mom told you that you were going to Michigan and you were going to make it, it sent a different kind of message to your brain. It was a form of identity shaping language. It was an opposing narrative that could challenge the verdict you had come to accept. That is why you say you did not simply read it, you heard it! Sometimes, news is more heard than it is seen because it is encoded with emotion.

Capacity decisions are also made in conversation. We hear hesitation, repeated questions, confusion, or slow thinking, and then we make assumptions about what a person can do. Some of those assumptions are accurate, and some are just shortcuts. But as soon as the word “incapacitated” is uttered in a sentence, it can alter everything else that is said from that moment onward. It can limit patience, limit explanations, and limit focus on paperwork instead of people. Have you ever noticed that as soon as a label is applied to a person, immediately people’s speech to them changes? That is what is happening here in this conversation. Hearing is not just about receiving sounds; it is about determining whose voice is important to a system.

References

Hickok, G., & Poeppel, D. (2007). The cortical organization of speech processing. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 8(5), 393–402. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2113