Ear Flashcards
What is the equilibrium?
Balance, detecting position of head and coordinating movement
What is hearing?
Detecting sound waves and converting them into nerve impulses
What is the auricle?
Outer mass of tissue that collects sounds waves and directs them to the auditory canal
What is the external acoustic meatus?
Between auricle and tympanic membrane that directs sound waves to tympanic membrane
What is the tympanic membrane?
The ear drum, moves/vibrates the auditory ossicles when sounds vibrate the tympanic membrane
What are the auditory ossicles?
Malleus, incus, stapes, used to transmit and amplify vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear
What is the oval window?
Where sound waves are transmitted to the inner ear
What is the auditory (eustachian) tube?
Connects middle ear with nasopharyngeal and equalizes air pressure in the middle ear
What is a bony labyrinth?
Spaces and cavities inside the temporal bone
What is a membranous labyrinth?
Membranous sacs/tubes that rest inside the bony labyrinth
What is the perilymph?
Fluid between the bony and membranous labyrinth, fluid is inside bony part and out side of membranous part, chemically similar to CSF
What is the endolymph ?
Fluid inside the membranous labyrinth, chemically similar to intracellular fluid, helps conduct sound vibrations and indirectly helps with detecting changes in position/balance
What is the vestibular system?
Transmit information via the vestibular branch of cranial nerve vestibulocochlear, detects where head is at
What is the cochlear duct?
Contains endolymph and splits the cochle into two chambers called scala vestibuli and scala tympani
What is the scala vestibuli?
Connects to oval window, filled with perilymph, and contains vestibular membrane
