Can You Hear Your Eyeballs Move?

Save Article As PDF

loud.jpgThis may seem like a question for a riddle or utter non-sense, but there are sufferers of an odd syndrome caused by serotonin and a little part of your brain called the nucleus accumbens. In Scientific American Mar. ‘07, there is a story of a neuroscientist that suffered from a horrid grating noise coming from his eyeballs while he tries to fall asleep.

Now before you start reading on, I want you to keep this thought in the back of your head: “Do you perceive the world around you as it really is, or just as your brain wants to interpret it?” Hopefully I have not lost you by now, but keep up as this gets interesting.

The story starts with Douglas Fields, the neuroscientist with “loud” eyeballs. In attending a neuroscience meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, he sat down with a college friend of his to have a couple of beers at a bar. When Douglas noticed Josef Rauschecker of Georgetown University drinking a beer as well, he acquired enough courage to ask him about his really unique problem since he knew Josef was an authority on the auditory cortex. Once Douglas gets his attention and starts describing how his eyeballs start to make a loud, irritating noise as soon as he tries to go to sleep, the guy sitting right next to him says, “Me, too!” Who knows what the actual likelihood of this happening is…but let me go on.

Once the two recover from being dumbfounded over this very strange, unique coincidence, Josef blurts out, “I know what your problem is.” Douglas thinks to himself:

What are the chances of meeting someone else who shares my oddball noise and in front of the only person in the world who could understand it?


Josef goes on to say that their problem is serotonin. “Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that stimulates neurons in the nucleus accumbens (NA) to activate it.” The nucleus accumbens or NA is basically an input regulation device. It allows a certain amount of sensory input into the conscious mind depending on what “we” are doing at that time. When one is deeply focused on a specific task, the NA will block out or heavily regulate unwanted noise or other sensory input. A good example is the selective hearing that men are so good at while watching a football game. His NA is blocking out the talking of his wife, so that he can continue watching his football game uninterrupted.

What does this mean for good old Douglas and his friend? Well, when Douglas was younger he injured his inner ear, and when his nerve fibers sprouted to repair the damage some of them “miss-wired” and ended up cross-wiring to his circuits that are responsible for vision and balance. So, some of the sensory input from his eyes that should go to his visual cortex ended up going to his auditory cortex causing him to hear his eyes move. How does that sound [Pun intended]?

Serotonin comes into play to control what the NA lets through when one tries to “fall” asleep. So when Douglas starts to enter into his twilight sleep, his NA falls asleep as well, allowing him to hear his eyeballs move. The same action occurs when he wakes up. Fortunately, all Douglas has to do is adjust his serotonin and he should never hear his eyeballs again.

After I originally read this story, I couldn’t stop thinking about how this proves that our reality is nothing but electrical inputs, and how we trust our brains to interpret them correctly. It is our brain that will decide what is essential and what is not. But, what if our brain does not interpret them in the way that represents what is really “out there”. What does that do to our sense of “reality”. So, is the world around you really like what you think it is, or is your brain wrong? I guess we will never know. But what can be learned from the above incredible story, is what you think you perceive may not be “really” reality.

  • I was about to comment on your capital punishment post (a simple "amen" will do for now), and then I scrolled down to this one. Yes, I too hear my eyeballs move in my head. No one knows why, after countless tests over the past 10 years. One doctor had the good sense to put me on an anti-depressant, and that did the trick. If I miss a dose, the sound returns within hours. I've only met one other person with this disorder, but her experience was temporary, unlike mine. It's maddening. But there are so many other things toying with my perception of reality that I do try to ignore this one.

    Love your blog, by the way. I'm a regular reader.
  • Wes W
    I can tell when I've missed a day taking my SSRI anti-depressant when I can hear my eyes moving. I'd really like to find out more about this and what causes it. This didn't happen until after I had been on SSRI's for a while. I also suffer from tinnitis... a neverending ringing in my ears. Talk about unwanted noise! Now if I could get my nucleus accumbens to filter out the ringing in my ears I'll be all set. I'm thinking that there may be something to that idea. Wondering if anybody knows anybody doing that kind of research. I'd love to be a guinea pig in such a study!
  • myeyes
    I can't believe what I am reading!! I thought I was going crazy. I too have never had any of these symptoms until I started taking setraline for anxiety connected to PTSD. If I missed a dose the symptoms would occur. I didn't put the two together until about two weeks ago. Now I have stopped the medication cold turkey for about a week and I feel horrible. Will it go away if I just ride it out? I don't want the medicine anymore. Will my hormones eventually adjust? Please, someone with the experience, please give me some guidance. Thanks.
  • BrokenRT
    I cant believe it either!!! I knew I wasn't going crazy. My brain zap or race car noise started as soon as I stopped taking cymbalta.. I stopped without ramping down. I was on 30mg a day and told by my doc I would be fine at that dose to just stop. It didn't hit me until day five I would say. I had missed a day or two in the past with no issues that I knew of or was told of. This time I started having what I thought was vertigo but I could hear it. It sounds like nascars passing buy me everytime I moved my eyes to the side. another good way to describe it is the doors on Star Trek opening or someone shuffling their feet while going buy me. I had read others describe it as those two or brain zaps. I also at times get short of breath and/or palpatations with it. I also have the tinnitus and swishing doppler type sounds almost all the time and have for almost 9 months. I had a MRI MRA MRV because of it. My main concern is same as some of you. Since stopping the meds I now have these annoying and at times dibilitating symptoms to deal with. I dont want to go back on the Cymbalta but I may just to stop the agony. I will help with any researched that is needed for this. Like stated by another I will be a guinea pig.
  • Marcia Ford -- I am glad that the doctor figured anti-depressants may work, although probably for the wrong reasons. I could only imagine what it would be like to constantly hear your eyeballs move.

    And thanks for being a loyal reader, I am sorry for not replying to this comment earlier. I must have missed it due to a thousand things going on at once. But, no excusses, I am sorry.

    Wes W -- As far as anyone doing research, all I know is the guy that I mentioned in the article named Josef Rauschecker. He is the "man" when it comes to these kind of conditions. If you want more information I recommend you pick up the latest Scientific American.

    If you want to know what I think. Many times when you take drugs that simulate production or actions within the body, your body will find a homeostasis with that drugs presence. To do this, most of the time your body will compensate by decreasing or increasing other processes in the body. It is called the cascading effect.

    Bottom line, when you take certain drugs to correct one thing, other things can go wrong. In your case (I believe) when you started taking the SSRIs, your neurons -- so that your body finds its homeostasis -- may have increased its own ability to re-uptake the serotonin back into the pre-synaptic neuron causing a depletion of serotonin within the synaptic cleft.

    What will happen in this case is when you forget to take your SSRIs, your serotonin levels will be lower (actually shorter) in the synaptic cleft then before you started taking the SSRIs. Causing symptoms like hearing your eyeballs when you forget to take your SSRIs since serotonin is respsonsible for controlling your nucleus accumbens, and the amount of ambient noise that gets through to your consciousness.

    I hope that made sense, it was harder to explain than originally thought. Then again I am no neuroscientist. Take care and hope to see you agian!
  • Larry
    I, too, have a similar symptom but mine can come at any time of the day. I associate that sound with the one you hear when you get your 'bell rung'--when you smack your head you hear a sound. Same sound when I move my eyes. Most usually occurs when I'm fatigued or for a week after a migraine.
  • Will
    You guys just saved my mental state. I started taking the dang antidepressants just to feel better and that I did, but I haven’t felt like I needed them and haven't bothered to refill my subscription. Four days now of not only hearing the loud swishing in my ears when I move my eyes, but it feels like my heart skips a beat, and I can feel it shoot down my fingers to the tips. Can you say, "getting a refill as soon as I get up in the morning"!!!!!? I too describe it as the sound you hear when you get punched in the nose or hit your head. The only thing is that you shouldn't have to hear it thousands of times a day.
  • Larry
    Some additional symptoms. I get the rush feeling into my hands and legs too. Something else that bothers me...if I move my eyes into a certain position I can 'capture' (for lack of a better term) a position where the sounds is sustained. But it's creepy. If I do so, I find that I am 'paralyzed' sometimes is described as sleep fugue. I cannot move anything except my eyes...I can see the clock and watch the sun rise, but can't move a thing. I am completely alert and aware.

    To break the state I have to concentrate on moving my little finger. Once I get a tiny active movement I can then move. I am very stiff and sore following the event.

    It's rare and I intentionally avoid this---but I can activate it whenever I'd chose.

    Anyone else??
  • Larry and Will - Wow, when I originally wrote this article, I had no idea that there would be so many that would enjoy and relate to this article. I am glad that I could give you guys a platform for speaking you mind about your condition. Take care guys.
  • Larry
    You mentioned a 'current' Scientific American--which issue? I get em all and I don't recall reading about this. Sure would have cuaght my attention.

    Now--what to name it. Occular kinetic aural stimulation with or without peripheral somatosensory sensations.

    OR....

    Aural Neural Occular Initiated Sensory Excitation
    A. N.O.I.S.E. (an infernal one at that)

    Larry :-)
blog comments powered by Disqus