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As far as we know, people don't tend to use or prefer one ear over the other.

But that's not to say that both ears hear in the same way. It's well known that the left side of the brain specializes in processing rapidly changing sounds, like speech. The right brain handles drawn out sounds, like music.

But until recently, scientists assumed that the way the brain processes sound had nothing to do with our ears, that they were simply conduits channeling sounds indiscriminately to the brain. Now, recent studies have shown that our ears play a more active role. In fact, sound processing seems to begin in the ears. And since the right ear channels sound to the left-brain, it's the right ear that’s strongest in processing speech like sounds. The left ear, meanwhile, is dominant for music and similar sounds.

We still use both ears to hear a variety of sounds, of course. But precisely how we hear particular sounds depends on which ear they enter.

Additional Resources:

• General information on hearing can be found at the Better Hearing Institute.
• For more information about left ear vs. right ear go to ABC News.

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