Auditory hallucinations and tinnitus
Both, subjective tinnitus and auditory hallucinations have similar definitions, making it therefore important to differentiate each from the other. Tinnitus is associated with an annoying ringing in the ear, which does not correspond to any meaning. Auditory hallucination involves hearing sounds which cannot be traced to an external source. However, these sounds can be interpreted to have a certain meaning. For example, a person may hallucinate to hear his name being called, or a warning being issued.
Auditory hallucinations are a result of our brain’s high intensity function to find meaning in the meaningless. Ordinarily, people may have auditory hallucinations when the brain tries to make meaning out of ambient noise.