Outer Ear
The types of frequencies that the outer ear selectively enhances.
What are frequencies of speech?
What is the malleus?
What is the impedance?
The snail like structure of the inner ear that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.
What is the cochlea?
The cranial nerve that carries vestibular and sound information from the ear to the brain.
What is CN VIII (the Vestibulocochlear nerve)?
What is cerumen (earwax)?
This is the middle one of the three ossicles.
What is the incus?
These are three circular structures that are important for equilibrium and sensing movement.
What are the semicircular canals?
The type of fluid that is contained within the scala vestibuli and the scala tympani.
What is the perilymph?
A verb used to describe the action of cilia of hair cells against the tectorial membrane when stimulated.
What is shearing?
The part of the ear that we see externally, made of cartilage and serves to funnel sound into the ear.
What is the auricle/pinna?
This bone is the smallest of the ossicles and has a footplate that vibrates against the oval window
What is the stapes?
The "window" upon which the stapes vibrates that permits communication between the middle ear and the scala vestibuli.
What is the oval window?
What is Reissner's membrane?
A structure within the auditory pathway that is important for sound localization.
What is the superior olive?
The technical term for the ear canal, which ends at the tympanic membrane.
What is the external auditory meatus?
The structure on the tympanic membrane that serves as the attachment point of the malleus
What is the umbo?
The type of fluid that is present within the scala media of the cochlea
What is endolymph?
The membrane of the Organ of Corti in which the cilia of the inner and outer hair cells are embedded.
What is the tectorial membrane?
The last structure within the auditory pathway that sound information travels to before arriving at the primary auditory cortex.
What is the medial geniculate body/thalamus?
The flap of cartilage near the opening of the ear canal that we can use to cover our ears
What is the tragus?
What is the Eustachian tube?
The tonotopically organized membrane that separates the scala tympani from the scala media. The organ of Corti sits on this membrane.
What is the basilar membrane?
What is tonotopic organization?
This a structure along the auditory pathway that the superior olive projects to.
What is the inferior colliculus?