Exam 2: Hearing Flashcards
Hearing slides for Exam 2
Structure of the external ear.
- Auricle
2. Ear canal
Structure of the middle ear.
- Tympanic membrane
- Malleus, incus, stapes
- Oval window
Bones act as a damper or amplifier for force/energy of volumes
Structure of the inner ear.
Cochlea (looks like snail shell, sense organs reside here)
What are the two fluid-filled canals and where?
- Oval window at base of scala vestibuli
2. Round window at abase of scale tympani
What are the scala media in between?
- Vestibular membrane separates from scale vestibuli
- Basilar membrane separates from scale tympani
- Organ of corti on basilar membrane
Describe the capture of sound.
- Pressure fluctuations in air move tympanum.
- Movement of tympanum moves auditory ossicles.
- Movement of stapes moves oval window
- Movement of oval window generates “waves” in the fluid filled scala vestibuli
- Motion distorts basilar membrane
Is the basilar membrane uniform in length?
No, broader at base, more taught at base.
What is tonotopic mapping?
Mapping sounds to certain areas of the brain. (Frequencies mapped to certain areas of the brain)
What is the range of hearing?
20 Hz - 20 kHz, arrayed along length of basilar membrane.
Complex sounds _____ to frequency components.
deconvoluted (simplified)
Describe the Organ of Corti.
- Contains ~16,000 hair cells/ear (inner and outer hair cells)
- Movement of basilar membrane distorts hair cells, causing depolarization or hyper polarization of receptors.
- Each hair cell maximally sensitive to particular frequency
Explain sound transduction.
- Mechanical strain to inner hair cells in organ of Corti transduced into electrical potentials.
- Neurotransmitter release encodes intensity, timing, and frequency.
Describe hair cells.
- Body is surrounded by supporting cell
- 20-300 stereocilia
- 1 kinocilium
- Thinner at base
Describe stereocilia.
- Mechanically gated K+ channels
- Sometimes open at rest
- Deflection affects open state of channels
- Only sensitive along 1 axis
- Graded response to stimulation
Describe the steps for mechanical gating.
- Movement towards tall end opens more channels
- Movement towards short end opens fewer channels
- Open more quickly than other sensory receptors due to the use of ion channels
Describe hair cells tuned to frequency.
- Cells sensitive to low frequency have long stereocilia bundles.
- High frequency have SHORT stereocilia bundles
- Cells most responsive when stimulus frequency matches membrane frequency
- Affected by kinetics, # of Ca2+, K+ channels, time it takes to remove Ca2+ from cell
How are hair cells highly sensitive?
- Modulation occurs at very small changes in membrane potential: small change = big change
- Must be able to release large numbers of vesicles quickly, possibly associated with presynaptic dense bodies.