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APM- Physiology > Physiology of Hearing > Flashcards

Physiology of Hearing Flashcards

1
Q

What are sound waves?

A

They are audible variations in air pressure (compression and rarefaction).

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2
Q

Do air molecules travel directly from the source of sound to your ear?

A

NO they do not
Each individual air molecule only moves a small distance as it vibrates, but it causes the adjacent molecules to vibrate in a rippling effect all the way to the ear.

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3
Q

What does the wavelength and amplitude of a sound wave

A

The pressure of the sound

How much the particles are being moved

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4
Q

Define sound intensity

A

the sound power per unit area (power = amplitude^2).

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5
Q

What are the basic units of sound intensity?

A

watts/m2 or watts/cm2
BUT more in normal life we use
decibels (dB)

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6
Q

What is sound intensity in lay man terms?

A

How loud the sound is

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7
Q

What is the threshold for hearing in dB?

A

= 0 dB

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8
Q

What is the sound intensity of vacuum cleaner?

A

= 80 dB

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9
Q

Define frequency

A

Frequency is the speed of complete back and forth vibration

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10
Q

In what unit so we measure frequency?

A

Hertz

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11
Q

What is the frequency range humans can hear at?

A

20-20,000 Hz

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12
Q

What does 1 Hz equal?

A

1 Hertz = 1 vibration/second

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13
Q

What is the frequency (pitch) of spoken words?

A

2000-4000 Hz

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14
Q

What is the speed of sound?

A

343 m/sec

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15
Q

What is ear split into?

A

3 sections:
Outer ear
Middle ear
Inner ear

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16
Q

What makes up the outer ear?

A

The pinna and the auditory canal

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17
Q

What makes up the middle ear?

A

Ossiclles and the tympanic membrane

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18
Q

What makes up the inner ear?

A

The oval window and cochlea

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19
Q

What are the outer and middle ear full of?

A

Air

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20
Q

What is the inner ear filled of?

A

It is fluid filled

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21
Q

What does the pinna act like?

A

Acts like a funnel to collect sound waves

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22
Q

What does the auditory canal do?

A

focuses the sound waves to increase the pressure on the tympanic membrane in a frequency sensitive manner.

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23
Q

What does the design of the pinna help us to do?

A

Helps us to determine sound localisation.

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24
Q

What is conductive hearing loss?

A

A clinical condition where your outer ear may be damaged

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25
Q

Where does the middle ear stem from and to?

A

Spans from the tympanic membrane to the oval window on cochlea

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26
Q

Describe the middle ear?

A

It is an air filed cavity

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27
Q

Name the 3 smallest bones in the body

A
  1. Malleus (hammer)
  2. Incus (anvil)
  3. Stapes (stirrup)
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28
Q

What is the role of the middle ear?

A

Converts wave in air to fluid

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29
Q

What does the conversion of waves in air to fluid result in?

A

leads to a reduction in intensity as it is harder to vibrate fluid

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30
Q

How do we overcome this loss of intensity when waves are converted into fluids?

A

Impediance matching

This provides amplification

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31
Q

How is Impediance matching achieved?

A
  1. ossicles connections act like levers

2. reduction in area of oval window compared to the tympanic membrane focuses vibrations.

32
Q

What 2 processes occur in the middle ear cavity?

A
  1. Impediance matching

2. The attenuation (hearing) reflex

33
Q

What does the attenuation reflex protect us from?

A

Loud bangs and noises

34
Q

Name the 2 muscles involved in the attenuation reflex

A

tensor tympani

the stapedius muscle

35
Q

What happens in the attenuation reflex

A

The tensor tympani pulls the malleus inwards and the stapedius muscle pulls the stapes outwards.

These opposite forces cause the ossicular system to increase rigidity and thereby decrease their ability to conduct sound and reduces the size of any vibration.

36
Q

What is the negative of the attenuation reflex?

A

They is a deli in the response of 40-80 ms

37
Q

What are the 3 things the attenuation reflex is designed to do?

A
  1. Protects the cochlea from loud noises (but because of the delay not things like gunshots).
  2. Masks background noise in loud environments.
  3. Helps to reduce the sensitivity to your own voice.
38
Q

What connects the middle ear to the nasopharynx?

A

EUSTACHIAN TUBE

39
Q

What does the eustachian tube do?

A

Equilibriates the air pressure in the middle ear with atmospheric pressure.

40
Q

What do pressure difference cause in the tympanic membrane?

A

Pressure differences cause decreases motion of the tympanic membrane causing a reduction in hearing.
(this is the pop sound you hear when you’re on a plane)

41
Q

What is the cochlea?

A

It is the auditory component of inner ear

42
Q

What do the 3 semicircular canals in the inner ear do?

A

They are the balance component of the inner ear

43
Q

Describe the Cochlea?

A

It is normally coiled up but if it was unrolled it narrows from the base to the apex

44
Q

Naked the membrane that spans through the middle of the cochlea

A

The basilar membrane

45
Q

Describe the basilar membrane

A

widens from base to apex

46
Q

What is found above the basilar membrane?

A

The Scala vestibuli

47
Q

What is found in the Scala vestibuli?

A

Paralin fluid

48
Q

What causes the movement of fluid over the basilar membrane?

A

The Stapes bone pushing against the cochlea

49
Q

What is the hole at the apex of the cochlea called?

A

The helicotrema

50
Q

What happens at the helicotrema?

A

Fluid is pushed into here init the lower duct (The scala tympani )

51
Q

What is the lower duct of the cochlea called?

A

The scala tympani

52
Q

What is found in the muddle of the scala vestibuli and the scala tympani?

A

The scala media

53
Q

Name the fluid found in the scala tympani

54
Q

Describe perilymph fluid?

A

Has a low potassium ion conc but a high sodium ion conc

55
Q

Name the fluid found in the scala media

56
Q

Describe endolymph fluid

A

It is high in potassium but low in sodium

57
Q

What does the basilar membrane do?

A

It differentiates between different sound wave frequencies so that we can hear different things

58
Q

What happens when a high frequency sound wave reaches the basilar membrane?

A

The sound wave vibrates the stiff base

The sound wave loses energy -The wave does not travel far

59
Q

What happens when a low frequency sound wave reaches the basilar membrane?

A

The energy does not dissipate so the wave travels further

60
Q

What word is used to describe the Maximum displacement areas for different frequencies
Organisation in the basilar membrane

61
Q

What does the position go the wave on the basilar membrane show?

A

Position on basilar membrane where travelling wave reaches its maximum amplitude is directly related to the frequency of the stimulus

62
Q

What is situated inside the basilar membrane?

A

The organ of corti

63
Q

What does the organ of corti do?

A

It has the auditory receptors that

Convert mechanical energy into changes in membrane potential

64
Q

How many inner hair cells do we have?

65
Q

How many outer hair cells do we have?

66
Q

What does the inner har cell do?

A

Does the majority of your hair cells
about 90% of our nerve fibres come from here
The inner hair cell is responsible for recording the auditory signals from the tectorial membrane

67
Q

What is found on top of hair cells?

A

stero cilia

68
Q

What are stero coil embedded in?

A

Are embedded in the tectorial membrane

69
Q

What do sound waves do to the basilar membrane?

A

Causes the basilar membrane to vibrate

70
Q

What does the vibrating of the basilar membrane cause

A

causes the hair cells to push against the tectorial membrane

causes the hair cells to push against the tectorial membrane

71
Q

What type are gates are present in the hair cells?

A

Mechanically-gated potassium channels linked by elastic filaments.

72
Q

Describe the process of depolarisation of hair cells

A

Stereocilia movement opens/closes the Mechanically-gated potassium channels
Leads to an influx of Na+
This alters the polarisation of the cell causing voltage-gated calcium channels to open
This activates the release of vesicles filled with excitatory neurotransmitter

73
Q

What joins all the hair cells together?

74
Q

Describe the ascending auditory pathway

A
  1. Cochlea
  2. Chochlea nucleus
  3. Superior olive at the contralateral side
  4. Inferior colliculus
  5. Medial geniculate body
  6. Auditory cortex
75
Q

What do we maintain in the primary cortex of th brain?

A

The tonotopic position that originates on the basilar membrane is maintained all the way up to the auditory cortex.

76
Q

What does the eustachian tube do?

A

connects the middle ear to the nasopharynx

APM- Physiology (2 decks)

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