Auditory System Flashcards
Describe impedance matching
- Fluid has greater inertia so requires more energy to move
- Lever action from stapes
- Eardrum to oval window SA ratio is 20:1
- These two things cause a 26X pressure amplification
Describe role of middle ear
- Sound in air medium
- Vibrates ear drum
- Vibration causes Malleus to move the Incus to move the Stapes
- Stapes moves oval window
Describe the attenuation Reflex
When exposed to loud sound (>80dB)
- Stapes muscle and Tensor Tympani muscle stiffen the lever action
- Reduces energy transferred to inner ear
Describe the Cochlear
- 35mm spiral
- Top section is Scala vestibuli (perilymph)
- Middle is scala media (endolymph)
- Bottom is Scala tympani (perilymph)
Describe the organ of corti
- Inner (1 row) and outer hair cells (3 rows) (innervated by spiral ganglion to form auditory nerve)
- Sit in the flexible basilar membrane
- Tectorial membrane sits on top of bait cells
Describe the structure of hair cells
Inner:
- straight row of sterocilia (hair bundle)
- largely afferent innervation
Outer:
- V shaped rows of sterocilia
- largely efferent innervation
What are sterocilia formed off
- Actin
- Myosin
- Frimbrins
What are tip links
- Fine filaments between sterocillia
2. Made of cadherins (CDH23 and PCDH15)
How do tip links function
- Linked to transduction ion channels on sterocilia
- Non-specific cation channels (TMC1/2)
- Mutations in these cause deafness
Describe the cochlear fluids
Perilymph:
- resembles CSF
- bathes cell bodies in organ of corti
K+ 7mM
Na 140mM
Endolymph
- resembles extracellular fluid
- bathes sterocilia
K+ 145mM
Na+ 1mM
Describe the propagation of sound
- Movement of oval window displaces fluid
- Bends basilar membrane at base
- Traveling wave moves along basilar membrane
Describe the Basilar membrane
- Structure of basilar membrane varies along the length
- Position of maximal displacement depends on frequency of sound
- Base: narrow and stiff (higher frequency)
- Apex: wide and floppy (lower frequency)
What happens when the basilar membrane moves?
It takes the organ of corti with it- causing the tectorial membrane to move with it, pushing the inner and outer hair cells to bend
Describe how bundle stimulation opens ion channels (inner hair cells)
- When sterocilia move towards tallest, causes tension between the tip links
- Tip links attached to transducer channels and therefore open
- Causes K+ influx into the cell
Describe inner hair cell activation in vivo
- Sterocilia bathed in K+ rich endolymph (+80mV)
- -60mV in hair cell, so -140mV driving force)
- Depolarisation causes Ve-gated Ca+ ion channels to open
- Synaptic transmission to afferent neurones
What happens (in terms of receptor potential) when sterocilia are pushed in positive/ negative direction
Neutral: transducer current slightly +Ve
Negative: Ve- stimulus
Positive: Ve+ stimulus