SOUND AND HEARING

WHAT IS HEARING?

HEARING
~is the human perception of sound, one of our most important senses. Normal hearing spans a remarkable range of sound frequencies and intensities.

THE HEARING MECHANISM

What we normally call the ear is not an ear.



The external part is called the pinna, or auricle.

~The

pinna may slightly increase the sensitivity of the ear by reflecting sound waves into it. In humans this is almost negligible unless a hand is cupped behind the pinna.

~In some animals the pinna is much larger and can be rotated toward a sound source, both locating the source and increasing the ears sensitivity.

THREE PARTS OF THE EAR

Outer Middle Inner

ear ear

ear

OUTER EAR
~is just the ear canal, which terminates at the eardrum (tympanum). Pressure variations in sound waves exert forces on the eardrum and cause it to vibrate.

Middle Ear
~contains three small bones called the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus), and stirrup(stapes).

Malleus

-attached to the medial surface of the tympanic membrane.

Incus

-connects the malleus to the stapes.

Stapes

-attached to the oval window, the stirrup, and is surrounded by a flexible ligament.

These bones transmit force exerted on the eardrum to the inner through the oval window. Because they form a lever system with a mechanical advantage of about 2, the force delivered to the oval window is multiplied by 2. Furthermore, the oval window has an area about 1/20th that of the eardrum: thus the pressure created in the fluid-filled inner ear is about 40 times that exerted by sound on the eardrum. This system enables the ear to detect very low-intensity sounds.

MIDDLE EAR
~also offers some protection against damage from very intense sounds. Muscles supporting and connecting the three small bones contract when stimulated by very intense sounds and reduce the force transmitted to the oval window by a factor of about 30. The reaction time for this defense mechanism is at least 15 msec, so it cannot protect against sudden increases in sound intensity, such as from gunfire.

EUSTACHIAN TUBE
It

is another protective structure in the middle ear. This tube allows air pressure in the middle ear to be equalized with atmospheric pressure to avoid large pressure differences across the eardrum, such as might be experienced with changes in altitude in plane flight. It is normally closed, but the acts of chewing or yawning can open it, sometimes causing a distinct pop as air passes through it.

INNER EAR
contains

the cochlea, the organ that converts sound saves into nerve signals to the brain. It is a coiled, tapered tube about 3 mm in diameter and 3 cm long (if uncoiled).

COCHLEA
It

has three fluid-filled chambers that run its entire length; sound enters one of them though the oval window. Because liquids are almost incompressible, the inward motion of the oval window is transmitted through the cochlea to the round window which then bulges out into the middle ear.

The process is reversed when the oval window is pulled out by the stirrup. The central chamber is called the cochlear duct and contains the sound sensing structures of the ear. Sound vibrations cause the tectorial membrane to rub against hairs, stimulating nerves at their bases. Some 30,000 nerve endings participate in sending sound information to the brain from the cochlea.

Another mechanism is also in operation, by which certain nerves are stimulated only by certain frequency sounds. The brain then interprets a signal from these nerves as a sound of that frequency. High-frequency sounds are detected at the near end of the cochlea (near oval window), while low-frequency sounds are detected at the far end of the cochlea.

 Georg

Von Bekesey (1900-1970), a communications engineer who became interested in the hearing mechanism, did much to show that various parts of the cochlea are stimulated by various frequencies. Von Bekesey received the Nobel Prize in 1961 for his many contributions to the understanding of the ear. While this mechanism is accepted as a partial explanation of how sounds get converted into nerve impulses, it does not explain the entire frequency range of human hearing.

 Variations

in rigidity along the length of the cochlear duct make it resonate at different frequencies in different locations, but this explains only a range of frequency detection about one-tenth the actual range. It is likely that when hearing is understood more completely, it will involve both mechanisms in modified form.

PREPARED

BY:

Arbolado, Janine Anayan, Lee Antonette