DEVELOPMENT OF

THE EAR
 INTRODUCTION
 In the adult, the ear forms one anatomic unit serving both
hearing and equilibrium.
 it has three distinctly different parts:

1. External ear, the sound-collecting organ;

2. Middle ear, a sound conductor from the external to the
internal ear; an
3. Internal ear, which converts sound waves into nerve
impulses and registers changes in equilibrium.
 From an embryological standpoint, the ear has a dual
origin.
 The inner ear arises from a thickened ectodermal placode at
the level of the rhombencephalon.
 The structures of the middle and external ear are derivatives
of the first and second pharyngeal arches and the intervening
first pharyngeal cleft and pharyngeal pouch.
 INTERNAL EAR
 Is the first of the three parts of the ear to develop.
 The first indication of the developing ear can be found in embryos
approximately 22 days as a thickening of surface ectoderm on each
side of the rhombencephalon.
 These thickenings, the otic placodes, invaginate rapidly and form the
otic or auditory vesicles (otocysts)
 Cells from the otocyst differentiate and form ganglion cells for
the statoacoustic (vestibulocochlear) ganglia. During later
development, each vesicle divides into
 a ventral component that gives rise to the saccule and cochlear duct
and
 a dorsal component that forms the utricle, semicircular canals,
and endolymphatic duct.
 Together, these epithelial structures form the
membranous labyrinth.
 VENTRAL COMPONENT
 In the sixth week of
development, the saccule
forms a tubular outpocketing
at its lower pole.
 This outgrowth, the cochlear
duct, penetrates the
surrounding mesenchyme in a
spiral fashion until the end of
the eighth week, when it has
completed 2.5 turns.
 In the seventh week, cells of
the cochlear duct diíferentiate
into the spiral organ of Corti
that transduces sound
vibrations into electrical
signals for hearing.
 A connection between the
cochlear duct and the
remaining portion of the
saccule is maintained but
confined to a narrow pathway,
the ductus reuniens.
 Mesenchyme surrounding the
cochlear duct soon
differentiates into cartilage.
 In 10th week, this cartilaginous
undergoes vacuolization, and
two perilymphatic spaces,
scala vestibuli and scala
tympani, are formed.
 The lateral wall of the
cochlear duct remains attached
to the surrounding cartilage by
the spiral ligament, whereas
its median angle is connected
to and partly supported by a
long cartilaginous process, the
modiolus, the future axis of
the bony cochlea.
 Initially, epithelial cells of
the cochlear duct are alike.
With further development,
they form two ridges: the
inner ridge, the future
spiral limbus, and the outer
ridge.
 The outer ridge forms one
row of inner and three or
four rows of outer hair cells.
They are covered by the
tectorial membrane, a
fibrillar gelatinous substance
attached to the spiral limbus
that rests with its tip on the
hair cells.
 DORSAL COMPONENT
 During the 6th week of
development, semicircular canals
appear as flattened outpocketings
of utricular part of otic vesicle.
 Central portions of the walls of
these outpocketings disappear,
giving rise to three semicircular
canals.
 Whereas one end of each canal
dilates to form the crus
ampullare, the other, the crus
non ampullare, does not widen.
 During formation of the otic
vesicle, a small group of cells
breaks away from its wall and
forms the statoacoustic
ganglion.
 Other cells of this ganglion are
derived from the neural crest.
 The ganglion subsequently
splits into cochlear and
vestibular portions, which
supply sensory cells of organ of
Corti and those of saccule,
utricle, and semicircular
canals, respectively.
 MIDDLE EAR
 The tympanic cavity, which originates in the endoderm, is derived from
the first pharyngeal pouch.
 This pouch expands in a lateral direction and comes in contact with the
floor of the first pharyngeal cleft.
 Distal part of the pouch, the tubotympanic recess, widens and gives
rise to the primitive tympanic cavity, and the proximal part remains
narrow and forms the auditory tube (eustachian tube).
 OSSICLES
 The malleus and incus are derived from cartilage of the first
pharyngeal arch, and stapes is derived from that of the second arch.
 Ossicles appear during the first half of fetal life, they remain
embedded in mesenchyme until the eighth month.
 The endodermal epithelial lining of the primitive tympanic cavity then
extends along the wall of the newly developing space.
 When the ossicles are entirely free of surrounding mesenchyme, the
endodermal epithelium connects them in a mesentery-like fashion to
the wall of the cavity.
 Because the malleus is derived from the
first pharyngeal arch, its muscle, the tensor
tympani, is innervated by the mandibular
branch of the trigeminal nerve.
 The stapedius muscle, which is attached to the
stapes, is innervated by the facial nerve, the nerve
to the second pharyngeal arch.
 EXTERNALEAR
 The external audítory meatus develops from the dorsal portion of the
first pharyngeal cleft.
 At the beginning of third month, epithelial cells at the bottom of the
meatus proliferate, forming a solid epithelial píate, the meatal plug.
 In the seventh month, this plug dissolves, and the epithelial lining of
the floor of the meatus participates in formation of the definitive
eardrum.
 TYMPANIC MEMEBRANE
 The eardrum is made up of
 an ectodermal epithelial lining at
the bottom of the auditory meatus,
 an endodermal epithelial lining of
the tympanic cavity, and
 an intermedíate layer of
connective tissue that forms the
fibrous stratum.
 The major part of the eardrum is
firmly attached to the handle of
the malleus, and the remaining
portion forms the separation
between the external auditory
meatus and the tympanic cavity.
 AURÍCLE
 Auricle develops from six mesenchymal
proliferations at the dorsal ends of the
first and second pharyngeal arches,
surrounding the first pharyngeal cleft.
 These swellings (auricular hillocks), three
on each side of the external meatus, later
fuse and form the definitive auricle.
 Because the hillocks are derived from
neural crest cells, external ear defects are
often associated with malformations in
other organs derived from neural crest
cells, such as the face, skull, and heart.
 Initially, the external ears are in the lower
neck región but growth of the mandible
posterocranially, moves the external ears
to the side of head at the level of eyes.