Binaural fusion or binaural integration is a cognitive process that involves the "fusion" of different auditory information presented binaurally, or to each ear. In humans, this process is essential in understanding speech as one ear may pick up more information about the speech stimuli than the other. In binaural fusion, inputs from both ears integrate and fuse to create a complete auditory picture at the brainstem. Therefore, the signals sent to the central auditory nervous system are representative of this complete picture, integrated information from both ears instead of a single ear.