THE EAR

Vibration

-the back and forth movement that creates the sound you hear.

Pleasant sound and unpleasant sound

Cartilage- strong and elastic soft bones

Outer Ear

Helix

-the upper hardest fleshy part

Earlobe

-the lowest soft part of outer ear

Earflap/ Pinna / Auricle

-captures the sound waves, which then travel through the ear canal.

-it acts like a funnel that collects sound

-seen as the outer ear that is attached to the head

Ear canal / Outer Auditory Canal / external acoustic canal

- shortly S-shaped tube that leads to the eardrum

- the passage way for sounds that connects the outer to the middle ear

-it is lined with wax and tiny hairs to keep dust from the ear

Cerumen or Earwax

- yellow wax substance

-it lubricates at protects the ear from dirt and bacteria

Eardrum / Anterior Eardrum / tympanic membrane

-connected to the throat through the Eustachian tube

-the thin tissue located at the end of the ear canal

-thin membrane that separates the outer from the middle ear.
-it vibrates because of the vibrating of air in the ear canal

Middle Ear

- a tiny cavity filled with air

-sends sound to the middle ear

-also reduces the intensity of loud sounds and equalizes the pressure on the both sode of the middle ear

Hammer /Malleus

-tiny bone attached to the eardrum or located behind the eardrum.

-it picks up its vibrations and transmits them to the anvil and then to the stirrup

Anvil / Incus

-tiny bone located in the middle of hammer and stirrup

-connects the hammer to the stirrup

- sits on top of the malleus

-it collectsbthe vibrations, passing them on to the stapes.

Stirrup / Stapes

- transmits the sound from the incus to the inner ear

--tiny bone attached to the inner ear through an opening called oval window

Round window- an opening in the middle ear through which the tympanic membrane communicates.

*sound waves reach the inner ear through the skull bones.

Hammer, anvil and stirrup = Auditory ossicles

-these bones are connected to the eardrum

The Inner Ear

Cochlea

- the hearing part of the inner ear that is filled with fluid

-a small shell-of-a-snail-like opening attached the nerve cell

-contains tiny hair-like nerve endings

-sound waves from the three small bones are transmitted to cochlea then sends message to the brain

-it consists of coiled, liquid-filled tubes that are separated from one another membranes

-it can be stretched up to 3cm

*lining one of the membranes are specialized hair cells that are sensitive to vibration.

Organ of Corti

-actual organ for hearing found in cochlea

Semicircular canals

-consists of three loop-shaped tubes at right angles to one another.

-these contains fluid and hair like projections that detects changes in body position.

-filled with fluids that are very sensitive when you move your head

- contain organs that help you keep your sense of balance

- passages to the cochlea.

Lateral canal, anterior canal, posterior canal

Endolymph

-the fluid inside later,anterior and posterior canal

*the movement of the endolymph causes the tiny hairlike nerve endings to shift and move

*these hairlike nerve endings act as motion sensors. They send messages to the brain to help maintain
your balance

Vestibule

-detects the movement of the head

-found in the spiral-shaped cochlea

Auditory nerves

- connected to the cochlea

-sends impulse or message to the brain

-these nerves signals to the brain, which interprets the sound and cause you to hear it.
*sometime the message carried by your auditory nerves to the brain combines with other message from
your eyes and muscles. If these messages do not match, you will feel as if everything is spinning around
you.

Eustachian tube

- a passage to the inner ear, serving to balance or equalize air pressure on both sides of the eardrum

-connects the tympanic cavity to the throat.

-blockage of the tube may cause pain to your ear or, in worst cases, even lost of hearing

-leads to the back of the nose down to the throat to allow tha passage of air into and out of the middle
ear