Sievert: Anatomy of the Ear Flashcards
What makes up the external ear?
What is its limiting border?
auricle and external auditory meatus;
tympanic membrane
What does the external ear do?
captures sound, funnels sound
What’s this?
air-filled cavity behind the ear drum
middle ear
What are the three middle ear ossicles? How do these bones develop? What do they do?
malleus, incus, stapes;
they develop as cartilagenous models;
transfer ear drum vibrations to oval window and fluid behind oval window
What makes up the inner ear?
fluid filled cochlea and vestibular apparatus
What does the inner ear do?
holds sensory hair cells for hearing and balance
Where does the external auditory meatus come from developmentally?
branchial cleft 1
Where does the middle ear/auditory tube come from developmentally?
branchial pouch 1
Where do the malleus and incus come from developmentally?
1st branchial arch cartilage
Where does the stapes come from developmentally?
2nd branchial arch cartilage
What are two muscles that alter the movement of the middle ear ossicles? Which ossicle does each muscle attach to?
tensor tympani *attaches to malleus
stapedius *attaches to stapes
The otic placode is a thickening of surface (blank). It invaginates to for the otic pit/vesicle. What does this form? (3 things)
ectoderm; membranous labyrinth, hair cells, ganglion cells
What is interesting about the development of the inner ear?
- it develops slowly, so it is susceptible to environmental defects
- the otic placode is not neural ectoderm, but it does end up developing into a sensory neural structure (ganglion cells)
The external ear is anti(blank) and anti(blank). Its walls are (blank) laterally and (blank) medially.
antibacterial; antibug; cartilagenous; bony
The external ear contains these glands that produce antibacterial wax
ceruminous glands
4 functions of the external ear
- collects sound
- ceruminous glands that produce antibacterial wax
- optimal for collecting sound in the speech range up to 100 fold
- helps localize sound in the vertical axis
What’s an example of the external ear localizing sound on the vertical axis?
when you pin down the external ear, you can point to which side keys are jangling, but you cannot determine if they are high or low
What nerves provide innervation to the external ear?
CN 5 *auriculotemporal nerve off of V3 cervical plexus (ventral rami of spinal nerves) *lesser occipital and greater auricular small auricular branch of the vagus to the external tympanic membrane
What is notable about a child’s tympanic membrane?
Tympanic membrane and auditory canal changes slightly as you go from infant to adult (ex: can see infant’s eardrum better if you pull DOWN on the ear)
What way is the tympanic membrane oriented?
Tympanic membrane points out laterally and inferiorly, so that the inferior anterior portion of the external auditory canal is longer than the superior portion.
The middle ear is a (blank) filled compartment. Contains the middle ear ossicles. What do these do?
air; these bones transfer the vibration of the tympanic membrane to the inner ear
How does the middle ear amlify the sound signal, and make up for the energy which is lost as sound moves from air into a liquid medium? *two things
- size difference between the tympanic membrane and the oval window
- mechanical advantage of the bony lever system
Which two muscles of the inner ear help to reduce sound intensities by increasing the stiffness of the apparatus?
stapedius
tensor tympani
What maintains air in the middle ear to effectively equalize pressure differences?
auditory tube
Where does the tensor tympani arise from? What nerve is it innervated by?
the lateral wall of the auditory tube; a branch of the undivided trunk of V3 (tensor tympani nerve)
What will happen to sound if you damage CN 7?
things will sound louder, and you will lose the ability to discern background noise from noise that you are trying to pick up (hyperacusis)
The middle is continuous with what two things? Why is this important?
mastoid air cells
nasopharynx via the auditory tube
*important, because infections of the mastoid sinus can move into the middle ear
What is the tympanic nerve a branch of? How does it enter the middle ear cavity? What does it carry sensory fibers to?
CN 9; through the jugular foramen; carries sensory fibers to mucosal lining of the middle ear cavity
After supplying the middle ear cavity via the plexus on the promontory, CN 9 forms in to what nerve? Where does this nerve ultimately go?
lesser petrosal nerve- leaves the middle ear cavity back into the skull, travels anteriorly until it exits the foramen ovale, supplies reganglionic parasympathetics to the parotid gland after synapsing in the otic ganglion
CN 7 enters the middle ear cavity and is surrounded by what? It gives off a branch to the (blank), and just prior to leaving the stylomastoid foramen, it gives off a recurrent branch to the (blank) and leaves through the petrotympanic fissure. What does this recurrent branch carry?
thin lamina of bone; stapes; chorda tympani; this branch carries taste and parasympathetics to the submandibular and sublingual glands
What does the greater petrosal nerve supply?
preganglionic parasympathetics to the lacrimal gland
Cranial nerve 9 exits the skull through the (blank). It gives off the (blank) branch which reenters the skull and forms a plexus on the promontory
jugular foramen; tympanic
Which CN contributes a small sensory branch to the middle ear, too?
CN 7
What bone is attached to the medial side and is visible through an otoscope?
If there is infection in the middle ear, what happens to vibration of the membrane? What does the tympanic membrane look like as a result?
malleus; it is reduced; it appears red and fluid may be visible
Infection of the middle ear is very common. What is this called? What happens?
otitis media; middle ear fills with fluid, tympanic membrane appears red and inflamed
How do microoganisms enter the middle ear?
via the auditory tube
Otitis media is especially common in children. Why?
their auditory tube is angled slightly superiorly toward the nasal cavity
Movement of what bone against the oval window causes vibration of fluid in the inner ear?
stapes
Sensory cells in the (blank) respond to fluid vibrations in the inner ear to provide hearing
cochlea
Sensory cells in the (blank) respond to movements of the head to provide you with balance
vestibular apparatus
The scala vestibuli and scala tympani are filled with (blank) which is high in (blank). The scala media is filled with (blank), which is high in (blank).
perilymph; Na+; endolymph; K+
Apparatus of hearing
cochlea
Apparatus of balance
semicircular canals
utricle
saccule
This is where the pressure wave enters as the stapes pushes on the oval window
scala vestibuli
This is where the pressure wave exits out of the round window
scala tympani
This is where the pressure wave causes vibrations to set up a traveling wave
scala media
Movement of the stapes causes deflections of the (blank). When the stapes pushes in on the oval window, it creates a pressure that causes the (blank) to bulge out
oval window; round window
If you unroll the cochlea, you can see that the scala vestibuli is connected to the scala tympani at the (blank)
helicotrema