In a normal Weber test, how is the sound heard?

In a normal Weber test, how is the sound heard?

• A. Left ear
• B. Equally heard
• C. Right ear
• D. Localizes to better ear

Answer: (B)

When a tuning fork is struck and placed on the midline of the skull, a normal Weber test means the sound is heard equally in both ears. This happens because bone-conducted vibrations are transmitted to both cochleae without any unequal input, so there’s no lateralization. If there were a hearing problem, the sound would lateralize: toward the affected ear with conductive loss, or toward the better ear with sensorineural loss.

When a tuning fork is struck and placed on the midline of the skull, a normal Weber test means the sound is heard equally in both ears. This happens because bone-conducted vibrations are transmitted to both cochleae without any unequal input, so there’s no lateralization. If there were a hearing problem, the sound would lateralize: toward the affected ear with conductive loss, or toward the better ear with sensorineural loss.