I would like to acknowledge this project to head of the biology department of our

school. Mr. Sabyasachi Dasgupta to whom I am very grateful for letting us give
an opportunity to accomplish this project on the human ear which is considered
as an effective sense organ in human beings useful in perceiving sound and
maintaining overall body balance. This project is full made to highlight and
enumerate the vital stats of the human ear and also provides an effective tool in
understanding the anatomy and histology of the human ear.
Sl Content Teacher’s
no signature
1 Acknowledgement

2 Introduction

3 The ear

4 Parts of the ear

5 Mechanism of hearing

6 Hearing defects

7 Conclusion

8 Bibliography
 The human ear [External view]

Human ear, organ of hearing and equilibrium that detects and

analyzes sound by transduction (or the conversion of sound waves into
electrochemical impulses) and maintains the sense of balance
(equilibrium).The human ear, like that of other mammals, contains sense
organs that serve two quite different functions: that of hearing and that
of postural equilibrium and coordination of head and eye movements.
This project mainly highlights the anatomy and histology involved in the
study of a human ear. It involves the following topics.

1. THE EAR: An organ which gives light to hearing.

2. PARTS OF THE EAR:
 Outer Ear
 Middle ear
 Inner ear
3. MECHANISM OF HEARING: Conversion of sound waves into
electrical impulses.
4. HEARING DEFECTS.
The ear is the organ found in animals which is designed to perceive sounds. Most
animals have some sort of ear to perceive sounds, which are actually high-
frequency vibrations caused by the movement of objects in the environment. The
human ear picks up and interprets high-frequency vibrations of air, while the
sound-sensing organs of aquatic animals are designed to pick up high-frequency
vibrations in water. Most vertebrates have two ears: one on either side of the head.

In some animals, including most mammals, the ear is also used for balance. In
humans, the inner ear contains parts called the semicircular canals, where otoliths
– tiny stone-like structures – shift in response to gravity and the movement of our
body. By sensing the movements of these stones, the ear can tell our brain where
we are relative to the directions up and down, and how our body is moving or
accelerating. It is these signals sent to our brain from the ear which allow our eye
muscles and other muscles to compensate for the small movements our body
makes.

Function of Ear

Hearing

Just as the eyes turn certain wavelengths of light into images, so the ear turns
certain wavelengths of vibration into sounds. It does this through a system of
many parts, including:

 The outer ear, which includes the complex shell that is the visible ear we see
on the outside of our heads. This outside structure, called the “pinna,” acts
like a satellite dish or funnel, gathering and focusing sound so that we can
hear better.
The pinna is made mostly of cartilage. In some animals, this outer “shell” or
“dish” can actually move, rotating enable it to collect sound from different
directions. Some breeds of dogs and cats maintain this ability to move their
ears to better focus on a sound without moving their whole head.
Humans have largely lost this ability, our ears being firmly fixed to our heads
and without much range of motion. But a few of us can still use vestigial
muscles we inherited from our animal ancestors to wiggle our ears!
 The middle ear consists of a series of bony tubes, which contain other bones
that are designed to amplify vibrations they receive through the eardrum.
This “eardrum” also called the “tympanic membrane,” vibrates in response to
the sounds that enter through the ear canal.
Its vibrations are then transmitted through three tiny bones known as the
“ossicles.” These are the malleus (also known as the “hammer”), the incus
(also known as the “anvil”), and the stapes (also the “stirrup”).
Unlike most bones which are used for structure and protection, the function
of these three delicate bones is to vibrate as much as possible in response to
sounds that enter the ear. They concentrate the vibrations from the ear canal
and transmit them to the inner ear, where these vibrations ultimately reach
the cells that send impulses to the auditory nerve.
 The inner ear contains a series of fluid-filled chambers, which use hair cells to
convert fine vibrations into neural impulses for purposes of both hearing and
balance. The inner ear receives vibrations that have been amplified and
 transmitted from the ear canal and through the malleus, incus, and stapes.
Located deep within the head, the hair cells of the inner ear are just what the
name suggests: fine cells, shaped like hairs, which are extremely sensitive to
vibration. When these hair cells are bent by vibrations, special proteins in
the cell membrane cause the hair cells to create electrochemical impulses,
very like nerve impulses, which are then carried to the auditory nerve in the
brain.
By determining which hair cells are bending in response to vibration, the
brain can calculate with a high degree of detail and accuracy the “pitch” or
frequency of the sound vibration; the volume; and the location of the sound.
Today, modern medicine allows many people with malformed or damaged
cochleas to hear better using devices such as cochlear implants, which artificially
produce electrochemical impulses that our auditory nerves can understand.

We will talk in more detail about these parts of the ear in the “Parts of the Ear”
section below.

Balance

Within the parts of the ear known as the semicircular canals, hair cells just like
those used for hearing have been adapted for a different purpose. This is called the
“vestibular system,” and it assists with vision and balance.

In the semicircular canals, these hair cells respond to the movement of otoliths –
tiny calcium carbonate crystals which can shift in response to gravity and motion,
causing them to press on hair cells and release nerve impulses.

By using these nerve impulses to track the position of the otoliths, the brain can
tell which way is up and down relative to the position of the body. It can also tell
which way the head is moving relative to the outside world. Most of us take this
remarkable ability of the inner ear for granted, but anyone who has had an inner
ear infection – in which viruses or bacteria can temporarily disrupt the balance
signals going to our brain – knows how crucial these signals are.

When the activity of the inner ear is disrupted, our eye muscles are unable to
instinctively adjust to our movements of our heads. This results in the illusion that
the world is unstable, and that it spins when we move! This happens because,
without the input from our vestibular system, our eye muscles do not “know” that
they have to follow objects in the environment when our heads move.
People with inner ear problems also have problems coordinating their muscle
movements to keep their weight balanced. Many have problems walking without
falling or running into walls, and may experience motion sickness-like symptoms
such as nausea and vomiting.

Fortunately, most inner ear infections are only temporary. They may last a few
days or a few weeks – just enough to help us appreciate the actions of these
remarkable organs!
The Pinna

The pinna is the outer, visible part of the human ear. Its curves and folds are
specially designed to gather sound from the environment and funnel it into our
ears. People with pinnas that have been damaged can still hear, but typically do
not hear as well as people with intact pinnas.

The stiff, rigid parts of the pinna are made of cartilage, just like our noses. The
soft, malleable “earlobe” is made of fatty tissue. Some people can still wiggle the
external parts of their ears using muscles which our ancestors may have used to
rotate our ears to better gather sound from different directions.

The opening in the center of the pinna is the opening to the ear canal, which will
be discussed next.
The Ear Canal

The ear canal is the opening through which sound waves enter the middle ear. It
serves to further focus and concentrate the vibrations collected by the pinna,
ensuring that the vibrations will be clear and strong enough to be amplified and
turned into nerve impulses.

The ear canal is only 2-3 centimeters deep – a little bit less than one inch. About
an inch inside ear canal, the tympanic membrane, or the “eardrum” is found.

This is why it’s important not to stick anything into your ears; damage to the
delicate tympanic membrane can result in impaired hearing!

The Tympanic Membrane

The tympanic membrane, or “ear drum” is a thin, tightly-stretched membrane that

separates the outer from the middle ear. Just like the membrane of an actual drum,
the tympanic membrane vibrates in response to the sounds that are funneled to it
by the pinna and ear canal.
The outside of the tympanic membrane faces the ear canal. Its inner surface faces
the malleus, incus, and stapes, which act to further focus and amplify the
vibrations that the tympanic membrane receives.

The Ossicles

 The middle ear lies between the outer ear and the inner ear. It consists of an
air-filled cavity called the tympanic cavity and includes the three ossicles and
their attaching ligaments; the auditory tube; and the round and oval windows.
The ossicles are three small bones that function together to receive, amplify,
and transmit the sound from the eardrum to the inner ear. The ossicles are
the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), and the stapes (stirrup). The stapes is the
smallest named bone in the body. The middle ear also connects to the
upper throat at the nasopharynx via the pharyngeal opening of the Eustachian
tube.
 The three ossicles transmit sound from the outer ear to the inner ear. The
malleus receives vibrations from sound pressure on the eardrum, where it is

Connected at its longest part (the manubrium or handle) by a ligament. It

transmits vibrations to the incus, which in turn transmits the vibrations to the
small stapes bone. The wide base of the stapes rests on the oval window. As the
stapes vibrates, vibrations are transmitted through the oval window, causing
movement of fluid within the cochlea
 The round window allows for the fluid within the inner ear to move. As the
stapes pushes the secondary tympanic membrane, fluid in the inner ear moves
and pushes the membrane of the round window out by a corresponding amount
into the middle ear. The ossicles help amplify sound waves by nearly 15–20
times.
 The inner ear sits within the temporal bone in a complex cavity called the bony
labyrinth. A central area known as the vestibulecontains two small fluid-filled
recesses, the utricle and saccule. These connect to the semicircular canals and
the cochlea. There are three semicircular canals angled at right angles to each
other which are responsible for dynamic balance. The cochlea is a spiral shell-
shaped organ responsible for the sense of hearing. These structures together
create the membranous labyrinth .

 The bony labyrinth refers to the bony compartment which contains the
membranous labyrinth, contained within the temporal bone. The inner ear
structurally begins at the oval window, which receives vibrations from the incus
of the middle ear. Vibrations are transmitted into the inner ear into a fluid
called endolymph, which fills the membranous labyrinth. The endolymph is
situated in two vestibules, the utricle and saccule, and eventually transmits to
the cochlea, a spiral-shaped structure. The cochlea consists of three fluid-filled
 spaces: the vestibular duct, the cochlear duct, and the tympanic duct.[3] Hair
cells responsible for transduction—changing mechanical changes into electrical
stimuli are present in the organ of Corti in the cochlea
The Oval Window

The oval window is a small membrane which lies at the border between the middle
and inner ears. Just as the tympanic membrane receives vibrations from the ear
canal, the oval window receives vibrations from the malleus, incus, and stapes.

However, there’s a very important difference between the oval window and the
tympanic membrane. The oval window is much smaller than the tympanic
membrane – and the purpose of the malleus, incus, and stapes is to focus sound
vibrations so that this much smaller surface area receives the full force of the
vibrations from the tympanic membrane.

It’s a similar principle to focusing light from a large lens to fall on a tiny area: the
resulting light is much more intense, and you may be able to see much more detail
as a result. The vibrations that the malleus, incus, and stapes transmit to the oval
window can be twenty times stronger than the vibrations they received from the
eardrum!

The oval window’s vibrations are transmitted directly into the cochlea, where
sound vibrations are turned into nerve impulses for the brain to interpret.

The Cochlea

The cochlea is filled with fluid, and “hair cells” that are extremely sensitive to
vibration. The cochlea, and the auditory nerve which carries signals from the
cochlea to the brain. When hair cells are bent due to vibration of the fluid in the
cochlea, the bending of the cells causes proteins called mechanically-gated ion
channels to open. These ion channels allow positively charged particles such as
potassium and calcium to enter the cell. This movement of charged particles
across the cell membrane is quite similar to the firing of neural signals, or “action
potentials,” by neurons cells.

Indeed, the movement of ions across the hair cell membranes cause
electrochemical signals, which are ultimately sent to the auditory nerve. The
auditory nerve then carries these signals to the brain, which analyzes information
about which hair cells are being vibrated and turns this information into the
experience of sound.

Just like cone cells in the human eye respond to different wavelengths of light,
allowing us to see different colors, hair cells in the human ear can respond to
different frequencies of sound. This allows us to distinguish the pitch of a sound.

The Semicircular Canals

The semicircular canals are similar to the cochlea in that they are bony canals
which are filled with fluid and lined with hair cells. However, the hair cells in the
semicircular canals are used for a different purpose from those in the cochlea.
Instead of being turned into the sensation of sound, the signals from these hair
cells are turned into information about movement and balance.

The hair cells of the vestibular system, or balance system do not receive vibrations
from the ear canal. Instead, they are bent by the movements of otoliths – tiny
calcium carbonate crystals found within the semicircular canals.

Just like stones settle to the bottom of a river or lake, otoliths settle to the bottom
of the semicircular canal. Of course, unlike a river or lake, our heads move quite a
lot, which causes a jostling of our “stones.” The direction of settling of the otoliths,
then, tells us which way is up, and which way our head is moving. To maximize
their ability to tell us about balance and movement, the semicircular canals are
oriented in three different directions. Just like different hair cells are sensitive to
different pitches of sound, these three different canals have maximum sensitivity to
different kinds of movements and position changes Our brains use the signals from
these hair cells to automatically adjust our movements. These movements include
the movements of our eyes, which allow us to maintain a stable image of the
world, even when our heads move; and the movements of our arms and legs, which
are fine-tuned to keep us standing upright on two legs. However, when the signals
from the semicircular canals are disrupted, people notice very fast. Inner ear
infections which temporarily disrupt these nerve signals render our eyes and
bodies unable to automatically adjust for the movements of ourselves and our
environments. As a result, people with inner ear infections can experience
dizziness; the illusion that the room is “spinning” when they move their head; and
a “shaky camera” effect where their vision wobbles with every small movement of
their heads. These people can also experience symptoms of “motion sickness” such
as nausea and vomiting.
Sound waves travel through the outer ear, are modulated by the middle ear, and
are transmitted to the vestibulocochlear nerve in the inner ear. This nerve
transmits information to the temporal lobe of the brain, where it is registered as
sound.
Sound that travels through the outer ear impacts on the eardrum, and causes it to
vibrate. The three ossicles bones transmit this sound to a second window (the oval
window) which protects the fluid-filled inner ear. In detail, the pinna of the outer
ear helps to focus a sound, which impacts on the eardrum. The malleus rests on
the membrane, and receives the vibration. This vibration is transmitted along the
incus and stapes to the oval window. Two small muscles, the tensor
tympani and stapedius, also help modulate noise. The two muscles reflexively
contract to dampen excessive vibrations. Vibration of the oval window causes
vibration of the endolymph within the vestibule and the cochlea.
The inner ear houses the apparatus necessary to change the vibrations transmitted
from the outside world via the middle ear into signals passed along
the vestibulocochlear nerve to the brain. The hollow channels of the inner ear are
filled with liquid, and contain a sensory epithelium that is studded with hair cells.
The microscopic "hairs" of these cells are structural protein filaments that project
out into the fluid. The hair cells are mechanoreceptors that release a
chemical neurotransmitter when stimulated. Sound waves moving through fluid
flows against the receptor cells of the organ of Corti. The fluid pushes the
filaments of individual cells; movement of the filaments causes receptor cells to
become open to receive the potassium-rich endolymph. This causes the cell to
depolarise, and creates an action potential that is transmitted along the spiral
ganglion, which sends information through the auditory portion of
the vestibulocochlear nerve to the temporal lobe of the brain.
The human ear can generally hear sounds with frequencies between 20 Hz and
20 kHz (the audio range). Sounds outside this range are
considered infrasound (below 20 Hz) or ultrasound (above 20 kHz)[11] Although
hearing requires an intact and functioning auditory portion of the central nervous
system as well as a working ear, human deafness (extreme insensitivity to sound)
most commonly occurs because of abnormalities of the inner ear, rather than in the
nerves or tracts of the central auditory system.

COORDINATION OF DYNAMIC AND STATIC BALANCE

Providing balance, when moving or stationary, is also a central function of the ear.
The ear facilitates two types of balance: static balance, which allows a person to
feel the effects of gravity, and dynamic balance, which allows a person to sense
acceleration.
Static balance is provided by two ventricles, the utricle and the saccule. Cells
lining the walls of these ventricles contain fine filaments, and the cells are covered
with a fine gelatinous layer. Each cell has 50–70 small filaments, and one large
filament, the kinocilium. Within the gelatinous layer lie otoliths, tiny formations
of calcium carbonate. When a person moves, these otoliths shift position. This
shift alters the positions of the filaments, which opens ion channels within the cell
membranes, creating depolarisation and an action potential that is transmitted to
the brain along the vestibulocochlear nerve.

Dynamic balance is provided through the three semicircular canals. These three
canals are orthogonal (at right angles) to each other. At the end of each canal is a
slight enlargement, known as the ampulla, which contains numerous cells with
filaments in a central area called the cupula. The fluid in these canals rotates
according to the momentum of the head. When a person changes acceleration, the
inertia of the fluid changes. This affects the pressure on the cupula, and results in
the opening of ion channels. This causes depolarisation, which is passed as a signal
to the brain along the vestibulocochlear nerve. Dynamic balance also helps
maintain eye tracking when moving, via the vestibulo–ocular reflex.
Types of Hearing Loss

There are four types of hearing loss:

 Auditory Processing Disorders
 Conductive
 Sensorineural
 Mixed.
Auditory Processing Disorders
Auditory Processing Disorders occur when the brain has problems processing the
information contained in sound, such as understanding speech and working out
where sounds are coming from.
Conductive Hearing Loss
Conductive Hearing Loss occurs when there is a problem with
the Outer or Middle Ear which interferes with the passing sound to the Inner Ear.
It can be caused by such things as too much earwax, Ear Infections, a punctured
eardrum, a fluid build-up, or abnormal bone growth in the Middle Ear such
as Otosclerosis. It is more common in children and indigenous populations.
Surgery and some types of hearing technologies can be used to treat Conductive
Hearing Loss such as Bone Conduction Hearing Aids, Bone Anchored Hearing
Devices and Middle Ear Implants.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Sensorineural Hearing Loss occurs when the hearing organ, the Cochlea, and/or
the auditory nerve is damaged or malfunctions so it is unable to accurately send
the electrical information to the brain. Sensorineural Hearing Loss is almost
always permanent.
It can be genetic or caused by the natural aging process, diseases, accidents or
exposure to loud noises such as Noise-induced Hearing Loss and certain kinds of
chemicals and medications. Auditory Neuropathy is another form where the
nerves that carry sound information to the brain are damaged or malfunction.
Technologies such as Hearing Aids, Cochlear Implants and Hybrid Cochlear
Implants can help reduce the effects of having Sensorineural Hearing Loss.
Mixed Hearing Loss
A Mixed Hearing Loss occurs when both Conductive Hearing Loss and
Sensorineural Hearing Loss are present. The sensorineural component is
permanent, while the conductive component can either be permanent or
temporary. For example, a Mixed Hearing Loss can occur when a person
with Presbycusis also has an Ear Infection.
___________________________________________________________________
In conclusion I would like to say that our human ear is one of the most
essential and multifunctional sense organ without which our body shall
be reduced to utter a heap of living tissues. The ear sets an interesting
example of energy transmission. The outer ear captures sound waves.
The sound travels down the ear canal and hits the ear drum. The ear
drum vibrates which causes the ossicles (middle ear bones) to vibrate. A
piston action of the ossicles creates a wave in the fluid in the inner ear.
The fluid wave stimulates the hair cells in the cochlea and an electrical
impulse is sent through the eighth cranial nerve to the brain.
The balance system works by sending continuous electrical impulses to
the brain. Moving the head causes the fluid in the semi-circular canals to
shift. This in turn changes the electrical impulses to the brain. The brain
uses this information to make any adjustments the body needs for
balance.
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