---
title: Researchers Discover How Brain Region Helps Us Switch From Passive to Active Listening
date: 2024-07-12T13:49:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/researchers-discover-how-brain-region-helps-us-switch-from-passive-to-active-listening"
section: Articles
---
# Researchers Discover How Brain Region Helps Us Switch From Passive to Active Listening

*July 12, 2024* — by [Georgia Jiang](/author/georgia-jiang)


> Study of Hearing in Different Contexts Could Offer Insights Into Sensory Impairment Disorders

*Adobe Stock 303847800 1920x1080 — University of Maryland biologists have found that an unexpected area of the brain, the orbitofrontal cortex, plays a central role in helping people pay closer attention to sounds in specific contexts.*

Ever notice how you can suddenly hear your refrigerator humming in the background when you focus on it? Or how your name being spoken catches your attention even in a noisy crowd?  
  
The human brain is remarkably adept at detecting, filtering and reacting to sounds, but how it does all that remains a mystery. Now, biologists at the University of Maryland are a step closer to solving that mystery.

In a discovery published Thursday in the journal *Current Biology,* the team found that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), a brain region associated with decision-making but not typically linked to hearing, plays a central role in helping a primary hearing center of the brain known as the auditory cortex adapt to changing contexts or situations.

“Our hearing doesn’t just depend on the sounds around us. It also relies heavily on what we’re doing and what’s important to us at that moment,” explained UMD biology Assistant Professor [Melissa Caras](https://biology.umd.edu/people/melissa-caras), the paper’s senior author. “Understanding the neural mechanisms responsible for these adjustments can also lead to a better understanding of and potential treatments for neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, dyslexia or schizophrenia—conditions where sensory regulation goes awry.”


*Diagram depicting the connection between the orbitofrontal cortex and the auditory cortex in the brain. — A diagram of the connection between the orbitofrontal cortex and the auditory cortex in the brain. (Image courtesy of Melissa Caras)*




**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Biology](https://today.umd.edu/topic/biology), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences)