CNS Cognitive and Motor Flashcards
What is the type of receptor class for the auditory system?
Mechanoreceptors
What is the stimulus energy for the auditory system?
Sound
True/False: Auditory system picks up changes in pressure waves around the head
True
T/F: As the frequency of the sound goes up, your sensitivity to the sound decreases?
False
Presbycusis?
Natural reduction in hearing sensitivity(higher frequencies) as you age
Why does the human ear have specific folds compared to dogs?
Because humans are trying to capture certain frequencies of sounds (lowest sensitivity 4kHz) whereas dogs want to capture other frequencies
What is the tympanic membrane and what does it do?
It is known as the ear drum
-It vibrates as pressure waves change around the head and pulls/pushes back and forth
What is in the cochlea and what occurs there?
-The cochlea contains neurons
-This is where transduction occurs
What is in the inner ear?
The cochlea
What is the middle ear?
Air filled cavity attached to the back of the throat via the eustacian tube
What is the roles of smallest bones in the body (Malleus, incus & stapes) ?
Connect the tympanic membrane to the inner ear
What happens to your ears when you fly? and when you pop them ?
Pressure changes in the middle ear making it less able to vibrate (harder to hear). When you pop your ears you normalize the pressure by letting air come in/out of the eustacian tube
Where is the inner ear?
Embedded in the skull bone
T/F: the cochlea is wound up?
True
How does sound flow through the ear?
- Tympanic membrane moves back and forth in response to pressure waves.
- The tympanic membrane is coupled with the oval window causing it to also move back and forth.
- This causes the pressure wave to fly to the end of the cochlea and around the tip and come back to the front where it pushes/pulls the round window
- As the round window pulls ou the oval window pushes in (and vice versa)
What happens when you speak?
Your voice can be loud, so the malleus, incus and stapes bones are attached to skeletal muscles that contract before you speak to reduce movement of the tympanic membrane and oval window
What is the basilar membrane?
It is the membrane that lines the cochlear duct and contains the neurons for transduction
What causes the basilar membrane to move up/down?
THe pressure waves produced by the oval window
WHat affects the location of the local vibrations on the basilar membrane?
The frequency of the sound
Where does low frequnecy sound cause vibrations on the basilar membrane?
Near the tip
Where does high frequency sound cause vibrations on the basilar membrane?
Closer to the oval and round windows
Where do complex sounds (consisting of multiple frequencies) cause vibrations on the basilar membrane?
Multiple locations depending on their different frequencies
What are the three fluid-filled compartments of the cochlea?
- Scala vestibuli
- Scala media
- Scala tympani
What occurs at the organ of corti?
Basilar membrane motion is converted into neuronal activity
(it contains neurons for transduction)