Psych Module 20

Located in the outer ear it funnels sound waves from the pinna to the tympanic membrane (ear drum)

• Auditory Canal

• Ear Drum

• Ossicles

• Oval WIndow

• Cochlea

A thin layer of tissue that vibrates in response to sound waves.

• Auditory Canal

• Ear Drum

• Ossicles

• Oval WIndow

• Cochlea

made of the three smallest bones in the human body, it transfers sound wave vibrations from the eardrum to oval window of the cochlea

• Auditory Canal

• Ear Drum

• Ossicles

• Oval WIndow

• Cochlea

The membrane-covered opening of the cochlea. It vibrates when it receives the sound waves and causes fluid inside the cochlea to move

• Auditory Canal

• Ear Drum

• Ossicles

• Oval WIndow

• Cochlea

A coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear.

• Auditory Canal

• Ear Drum

• Ossicles

• Oval WIndow

• Cochlea

Damage to the cochlea’s hair cell receptors or the auditory nerve.  With auditory nerve damage, people may hear sound but have trouble discerning what someone is saying.

• Sensorineural

• Conduction

• Place Theory

• Frequency Theory

• Volley principle

Damage to the mechanical system- eardrum and middle ear bones- that conducts sound waves to the cochlea. It is less common.

• Sensorineural

• Conduction

• Place Theory

• Frequency Theory

• Volley principle

presumes that we hear different pitches because different sound waves trigger activity at different spots along the cochlea’s basilar membrane.

• Sensorineural

• Conduction

• Place Theory

• Frequency Theory

• Volley principle

The brain reads pitch by monitoring the frequency of neural impulses traveling up the auditory nerve. The whole basilar membrane vibrates with the incoming sound wave, triggering neural impulses to the brain at the same rate as the sound wave.

• Sensorineural

• Conduction

• Place Theory

• Frequency Theory

• Volley principle

By firing in rapid succession, neurons can achieve a combined frequency above 1000 waves per second

• Sensorineural

• Conduction

• Place Theory

• Frequency Theory

• Volley principle