Final Review Q&A Flashcards
- What are the 2 main functional purposes of the pinna?
- Filters acoustic input (amplifies and dampens various sounds)
- Vertical plane sound localization
- What are the major audiological consequences of pinna damage?
none; only minor damages.
trouble wearing a BTE HA
- The children the ear canal is roughly what direction? In adults?
Children: mostly perpendicular to
Adults: roughly perpendicular, but slightly downward at the end (helps avoid water collection)
- What is the general shape of the ear canal? What is it shaped like this?
“lazy S-shaped”;
-pars externa= inward, forward, and upward
-pars media= inward and backward
-pars interna= inward, forward, and downward
curvy nature of EC provides protection against puncturing the TM.
- What portion of the ear canal is surrounded by cartilage? Bone?
Cartilage: lateral 1/3 of EC (dynamic glands and hairs)
Bone: other 2/3 of EC (fixed size and skin tight lining)
-bony portion not fully formed in kids until 3 so be careful, can affect immittance measurements
- Cerumen is produced in what part of the ear canal?
the lateral 1/3 of the EC
-cerumen: subacious glands (oily-lubrication) + ceruminous glands (waxy)
- What is the function of cerumen?
lubrication
protection (antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-insectual properties)
- The ear canal primarily acts like what kind of resonator?
an open-closed pipe resonator. The closed end is not completely reflective, causing the peaks in the output response to be broadly tuned.
- At what frequency is the primary resonance of the ear canal and meatus?
2.5 kHz
- What parts of the body contribute to the resonances by the time one reaches the tympanic membrane?
- head
- neck, torso, etc.
- concha
- pinna
- EC and TM
generally, there is a boost from 2-7kHz
- What portion of the Eustachian tube is surrounded by cartilage? bone?
Bone: superior 1/3 portion
Cartilage: inferior 2/3 portion
*at rest, cartilage portion is closed and during action opens b/c of 2 muscles, levator veli palatini and tensor veli palatini.
- What nerve runs next to the middle ear cavity?
The facial nerve (CN VII)
- What is the promontory? What is its function?
“big bump” that is the basal turn of the cochlea.
Function: protects both windows by being the first contact point of objects through the middle ear.
- What vein runs next to the inferior wall of the middle ear cavity? What type of tumor is common to destroy this wall?
jugular vein
glomus jugulare tumor
- The children the Eustachian tube is roughly at what angle? In adults?
Children: almost horizontal
Adults: downwards at a 45 degree angel
- What are the names of the ossicles?
Malleus (hammer), Incus (anvil), and Stapes (stirrup)
- The middle ear bones solves what major problem in the transduction of sound?
The impedance mismatch of going from the large surface area of the TM to the small surface area of the oval window.
- What are the three mechanisms that the ossicles improve sound transduction?
- change in surface area
- lever action- acting like a tetter totter (2 arms; one longer than other)
- buckling of the TM
- The tympanic membrane moves in what direction?
Inward toward the ME in a buckling motion.
- Which of the ossicles is the weakest and most likely to break?
Incus- at its long process specifically.
- The cochlea is house where?
In the temporal bone
- What boney element surrounds the cochlea?
The otic capsule, the skeletal element enclosing the inner ear mechanism
- What are the types of temporal bone fractures? How often do they each occur? Which is worse?
Types: longitudinal (70%) and transverse (30%).
How: Longitudinal TB fractures occur because of severe head injuries. Cause: SN, C HL, Balance problems, and facial nerve damage/paralysis (20%). Transverse fractures occur because of fractures through the otic capsule and internal auditory meatus (IAM). Cause: profound SNHL, severe vertigo, and facial nerve damage/paralysis (50%).
Transverse fractures are worse.
- The cochlear has how many turns?
2.5 (2.2-2.9) turns— turns are smaller at apex than at base
- How long is the average cochlea?
33mm long
- The central axis of the cochlea is called what?
Modiolus- holds up the cochlea duct; has perforated bony core and accommodate nerve fibers.
- What is the function of the spiral lamina?
Shelf like structure that wraps around the modiolus from base to apex that connects the outer wall at the spiral ligament. AN fibers pass between this structure. Separates duct into 2 passages with scala media.
- What are the two windows of the cochlea? Where are they located (which is superior)? What is
attached to them?
Oval and Round windows. Both are located on the cochlea. The oval window is superior. Stapes is connected to the oval window, which is the attached to the scala vestibuli. The round window is inferior to the oval window and is attached to the scala tympani. This membrane keeps the cochlear fluid in the cochlea.
- What are the 3 scala and where are they located?
scala vestibuli, scala media (or cochlear duct), and scala tympani. They are all located within the cochlea. The scala vestibuli is the most superior and the scala tympani is inferior. The scala vestibuli and scala tympani communicate at the helicotrema. The scala media is between the other scala and is separated by the basilar membrane and Reissner’s membrane.
- What divides the 3 scala and where are they located?
Reissner’s and basilar membrane. Reissner’s membrane is superior in that it is the floor of the scala vestibuli; separates endolymph and perilymph. basilar membrane is inferior and makes up the floor of the scala media/ the ceiling of the scala tympani. (wording??)
- Describe the size and stiffness of the basilar membrane.
at the base: narrow (.04mm), thin, and stiff.
at apex: wide (.36mm), thick, and floppy/flexible
- What is the main organ of hearing?
The organ of corti– within it are the HCs
- What gelatinous flap of collagen lies above the organ of corti?
Tectorial membrane- has notches on underside to accommodate tallest OHC allow the membrane to vibrate w/o decoupling
- What is the purpose of the stria vascularis?
-battery for the system Davis battery theory
-secretory and absorptive function of the blood supply.
-produces endolymph
-provides oxygen for basic metabolic control of the cochlea .
The cells in the sria vascularis maintains the +80mV ion charge of the endolymph.
—high K+ ions and low Na+ ions
- What are the two types of hair cells? What are their shapes? How many are there of each?
Types: Outer and Inner
Shape: O=test tubed shaped; I= falsk shaped
How many: Outer=3-5 rows (12,000 cells) , Inner=1 row (3,500 cells)
*divided by a tunnel and held in place by supporting cells.
38.What shape are the two types of hair cells arranged?
OHC: stereocilia form a “W” shape
IHC: stereocilla from a continuous “U” shape
- Which of the hair cells have contractile proteins? Why do they have them?
OHC.
Why? allows for contraction and expansion that are active during depolarization (contracting) and hyperpolarization (expanding)
- Which hair cells are the main transducers of sound?
IHC
- In what direction does a rarefaction deflect the basilar membrane?
upwards—> causes shearing of the sterocillia
- In what direction does a rarefaction open the ion channels at the end of the stereocilia?
laterally/ away from the limbus–> depolarization (excitation)
- Tip links do what for stereocilia?
mechanically open/close the ion channels
- Why does the traveling wave goes from base to apex?
Starts at the mass/stiffness dominated portion (the narrow, thick base) —> travels to the
- The tuning on the basilar membrane is improved by what?
the cochlear amplifier adding mechanical feedback energy to the TW
- How does the basilar membrane tuning of a zombie compare to an alive person?
Zombie: more broadly tuned and requires greater input intensities –> broader TC w/ higher thresholds
everything becomes linear
Human: maximal peak displacement is achieved at lower intensities and sharper tuning at the CF
- How does the sensitivity of a zombie compare to an alive person?
- how long does the TW take to go from base to apex in a human.
zomebies: reduced sensitivity–> higher thresholds
48. 10ms
- How does the tuning at the basilar membrane change with level?
broader at higher intensities and sharper at lower intensities.
- What are on the axes of a tuning curve?
X= frequency Y= amp of BM vibration
- What frequencies show linear basilar membrane input-output functions?
those far from the CF; “off frequency”
- Why were von Bekesy’s original Nobel prize winning measurements questioned?
- used cadavers (a problem if tuning is metabolic dependent (which it is))
- used extremely high intensities
- examined cochleas were damaged
- tuning was too broad to identify freq. selectivity
- Why were von Bekesy’s original Nobel prize winning measurements questioned?
- used cadavers (a problem if tuning is metabolic dependent (which it is))
- used extremely high intensities
- examined cochleas were damaged
- tuning was too broad to identify freq. selectivity
- How does the tuning curve of a hearing impaired person compared to a typical hearing person?
NH: sharp TC and low intensities
HI: broad TC and higher intensities –> active feedback mechanism from the cochlear amplifier is impaired. increase in intensity–> broader peak displacement on BM and more acoustic compression–> broader curve.
- Does the amplitude of the traveling wave grow or diminish as it travels down the cochlear duct? Why?
grows b/c less stiff at apex making it more springy–> same force at base will create greater amplitudes at apex.
- After reaching the resonance point, how fast does the traveling wave dissipate? Why?
Very quickly; almost immediately. after resonance point, moves into the mass limited system reducing the TW’s amplitude.
- Scala media is filled with what kind of liquid? What is the voltage of the liquid?
Endolymph.–> poistive endocochlear potential = critical for normal cochlear function
positive (+80mV); high K+ and low Na+ ions)
- Scala vestibuli is filled with what kind of liquid? What is the voltage of the liquid?
Perilymph
near ground potential (high Na+ and low K+ ions)
- Scala tymapni is filled with what kind of liquid? What is the voltage of the liquid?
Perilymph
near ground potential (high Na+ and low K+ ions)
- What is the resting voltage of the outer and inner hair cells?
inner: -45mV
outer: -70 mV
- Why is it important to have a potential difference across scala media and hair cells?
to allow a flow of ions between the scala media and the hair cells–> allowing for depolarization and hyper polarization of the hair cells which is need for transduction, which is need for convert sound into neural activity.
- What is the source of the endocochlear potential? What types of cells help generate it?
positively charged endolymph.
OHCs
- Where are the ion channels on the stereocilia?
near the tips of the stereocilia
- Stereocilia must be fast enough to do what?
“faithfully reproduce high-freq. acoustic signals”
- What are the cochlear potentials? Which respond to stimuli?
Resting: -endocochlear potential -intracellular potential Active: -cochlear microphonic -summating potential -compound action potential
Active respond to stimuli (acoustic info causes a change in electric current).
- Which potential mimics the stimulus fine structure? Is it more like AC or DC?
Cochlear microphonic– AC
which also is a reflection of the stereocillia
like the diaphragm of a mic–> catches the vibration of the stimulus
- Which potential mimics the stimulus envelope? Is it more like AC or DC?
summating potential– DC
- Where is the compound action potential generated?
Spiral ganglia although it can be measured in the cochlea.
- What goes up to higher frequencies, the cochlear microphonic or the inner hair cell potential?
CM, although the inner hair cells resemble the CM.
- What cells produce OAEs?
OHC
- What houses the insides of a cell?
the lipid bilayer known as the plasma membrane
- What is the purpose of the proteins in this housing?
link between inter- and extra-cellular worlds
- stabilize the membrane
- transport ions and molecules
- anchoring membrane to adjacent cells and substrates
- cellular motility
- communication