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Hearing: From Vibration To Sound

The hearing process begins when sound waves enter the outer ear and are funneled through the ear canal to the eardrum. The eardrum vibrates from the sound waves and transmits the vibrations through the middle ear via three small bones. These bones amplify the vibrations which reach the inner ear through the oval window. In the inner ear, vibrations cause fluid in the cochlea to ripple, transmitting the vibrations to the basilar membrane. Vibrations along the basilar membrane stimulate hair cells which transduce the vibrations into neural signals sent to the brain, allowing the perception of sound.

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Megan Horswood Morrow
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115 views

Hearing: From Vibration To Sound

The hearing process begins when sound waves enter the outer ear and are funneled through the ear canal to the eardrum. The eardrum vibrates from the sound waves and transmits the vibrations through the middle ear via three small bones. These bones amplify the vibrations which reach the inner ear through the oval window. In the inner ear, vibrations cause fluid in the cochlea to ripple, transmitting the vibrations to the basilar membrane. Vibrations along the basilar membrane stimulate hair cells which transduce the vibrations into neural signals sent to the brain, allowing the perception of sound.

Uploaded by

Megan Horswood Morrow
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Hearing: From Vibration to Sound

Sense of hearing Results when sound waves are collected in the outer ear, amplified in the middle ear, and transduced, or transformed into neural messages, in the inner ear.

Sound waves are the physical stimuli that produce the sensory experience of sound Loudness is determined by the intensity, or amplitude, of a sound wave and is measured in units called decibels. Pitch, the relative highness or lowness of a sound, is determined by the frequency of a sound wave, which is the rate of vibration, or the number of sound waves per second
Frequency is measured in units called hertz- the # of

wave peaks per second

Timber- the distinctive quality of a sound, is determined by the complexity of the sound wave

Outer ear Middle ear Inner ear Basilar membrane

Include the pinna, the ear canal, and the eardrum Pinna
The oddly shaped flap of skin and cartilage thats

attached to each side of your head Primary role is to catch sound waves and funnel them into the ear canal

Eardrum
Separates the outer ear from the middle ear Is a tightly stretched membrane at the end of the ear

canal that vibrates when hit by sound waves

Amplifies the vibrations of the eardrum; it consists of three small bones, the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup (so named because of their shapes). Each bone sets the next bone into motion.

The innermost bone, the stirrup, transmits the amplified vibration to the oval window; if the tiny bones of the middle ear are damaged or become brittle, as in old age, conduction deafness may result Like the eardrum, the oval window is a membrane, but it is many times smaller than the eardrum and it separates the middle ear from the inner ear

The part of the ear where sound is tansduced into neural impulses Consists of the cochlea and the semicircular canals

Cochlea
Fluid-filled tube that is coiled in a spiral The fluid in the cochlea ripples in response to

vibrations from the oval window

The vibrations from the rippling fluid are transmitted to the basilar membrane.
Basilar membrane runs the length of the cochlea and

is embedded with hair cells, the sensory receptors for sound Vibrations from the cochlea are transmitted to the basilar membrane.

Hair cells have tiny, projecting fibers


If damaged, the result can be nerve deafness,

which cannot be helped by a hearing aid

Transduction finally occurs


As the hair cells bend, they stimulate the cells of

the auditory nerve, which carries the neural info to the thalamus and the auditory cortex in the brain

Key structure in our discrimination of pitch According to frequency theory, the basilar membrane vibrates at the same frequency as the sound wave.
This only explains the transmission of low-frequency

sounds

According to place theory, different frequencies cause large vibrations at different locations along the basilar membrane.
Higher pitched sounds are interpreted according to

where the hair cells are most active

Both frequency theory and place theory are involved in explaining how we distinguish pitch.
Frequency theory explains the lower pitches
Place theory the higher pitches

Both are involved in hearing midrange pitches

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