A structure that funnels sound into the ear canal, is visible to others and is composed of cartilage.
What is the Pinna?
100
Transmits sound vibration to the auditory ossicles.
What is the Tympanic Membrane (Ear Drum)?
100
The opening which leads from the middle ear, and transmits vibrations from the Auditory Ossicles.
What is the Oval Window?
100
The top of the Cochlea, which is slightly cone-shaped.
What is the Cochlear Cupula?
100
These pass through the ear canal and cause the tympanic membrane to vibrate.
What are sound waves?
200
Earwax is created here to protect your ears from bacteria.
What is the Ear Canal?
200
This structure softens the sound inside your head, like the sound of chewing or speaking.
What is the Tensor Tympanic Muscle?
200
A bed of sensory cells which transmit information to the brain about head movement, allowing you to maintain balance.
What is the Saccule?
200
This structure has a over 20,000 nerve receptors, each of which has a tiny hair cell that detects sound vibrations and translates them into signals for the brain.
What is the Organ of Corti?
200
Vibrations from the Tympanic Membrane are amplified and transferred to the Oval and Round Windows through these co-ordinated set of bones.
What is the Ear Ossicles?
300
This structure contains a large blood supply and helps to keep the ear warm.
What is the Ear Lobe?
300
This nerve runs through the middle ear while carrying taste information from the tongue to the brain.
What is the Chorda Tympani?
300
This structure contains fluid which brushes against hairs on the canal walls as you move, to detect rotation of the head.
What is the Anterior Semicircular Canal?
300
These two structures are filled with perilymph fluid, and conduct sound vibrations to the cochlea duct.
What are the Scala Tympani and Scala Vestibule?
300
A fluid medium for vibration waves to pass through, stimulating the organ of Corti's receptor cells.
What is Endolymph?
400
This muscle can be felt in your temples, expanding and contracting when you chew.
What is the Temporal Muscles?
400
Three tiny bones that amplify and transfer vibrations to the inner ear. Together that are know as the Auditory Ossicles.
What is the Malleus, Incus and Stapes?
400
The auditory portion of the inner ear. It is spiral shaped (2.5 turns in humans) and contains watery fluid.
What is the Cochlea?
400
The nerve bundle that transmits sensory information from the Organ of Corti to the brain.
What is the Auditory Nerve?
400
A membrane within the cochlea that transfers fluid vibrations from the Scala Vestibula and Scala Tympani to the Cochlea Duct.
What is the Vestibular Membrane?
500
The small, hard bump above your ear lobe.
What is the Antritragus?
500
This structure connects the middle ear to the nose, and is responsible for equalising pressure between the middle ear and the atmosphere.
What is the Eustachian Tube?
500
An opening between the middle and inner ear, closed off by a membrane, which vibrates in opposite phase to that of the oval window membrane. It allows fluid in the cochlea to move.
What is the Round Window?
500
These structures are tuned to particle sound frequencies based on their relative position on the Organ of Corti. Those that are closer to the Oval Window are stiffer and resonate with high frequency vibrations, those that are further away are less stiff and resonate with low frequency vibrations.
What are hair cells?
500
The ordering of sounds on a frequency related scale. Translated to the brain through the position of the resonating hair cell.