Microwave auditory effect

The perception of clicks, buzzes, or other sounds caused by pulsed radio-frequency energy producing rapid thermoelastic pressure waves in tissue near the inner ear.

Thermoelastic expansion: The rapid expansion of a material when absorbed energy raises its temperature. Brief heating of tissue produces the pressure waves associated with the effect.
Allan H. Frey: An American neuroscientist who investigated biological effects of microwave radiation. His 1961 report brought microwave hearing to wider scientific attention.
Radio-frequency exposure assessment: The evaluation of how much radio-frequency energy people absorb from environmental or technological sources. Exposure conditions determine whether the brief heating associated with the effect is plausible.
Air-conduction hearing: Hearing in which sound travels through the outer and middle ear to the inner ear. Microwave-induced perception does not require sound to travel through air into the ear.
Thermoelastic mechanism of microwave hearing: The proposed account in which rapid radio-frequency heating creates pressure transients that stimulate auditory structures. It explains the effect's timing, but details of how pressure reaches the cochlea remain debated.
Cochlea: The spiral-shaped inner-ear structure that converts sound vibrations into neural signals. Pressure waves reach the cochlea and can activate its sensory structures.
Frey effect: The perception of auditory sensations induced by pulsed radio-frequency exposure, named after Allan H. Frey. This name is commonly used for the auditory phenomenon described on this page.
Radio-frequency hearing communication: A proposed communication method that encodes information in pulsed radio-frequency auditory sensations. The effect has prompted investigation of whether pulse patterns can convey signals.
Bone conduction: Sound transmission to the inner ear through vibration of the skull and other tissues. It is a mechanical route to hearing, distinct from pressure waves generated by brief tissue heating.
Radio-frequency absorption in tissue: The conversion of radio-frequency electromagnetic energy into heat within biological material. Absorption patterns affect where and how quickly the proposed pressure transients form.

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Electromagnetic hypersensitivityCompared with: This specific, limited phenomenon differs from the broad symptoms attributed to ordinary exposures.