Research library

Redefining the Distinction Between the Mind’s Ear and the Inner Voice

Hubbard · Auditory Perception & Cognition

This review questions the usual line between the mind's ear (imagining outside sounds) and the inner voice (imagining one's own voice), which holds that only the inner voice carries movement information. Brain and muscle studies find movement-related activity when people imagine melodies and instrument sounds too, so the review argues that line does not hold. It suggests widening the inner voice to any sound a person makes, and separating the two by whether a sound is mapped to meaning or to action. It also asks whether someone without auditory imagery could keep its movement side.