The ear, hearing and balance - Topic 10 Flashcards
What is the visible outer part of the ear called?
The auricle
or
The pinna
what is the outer folded edge of the auricle called?
Helix
Which structure is designed as a funnel to channel soundwaves into the ear canal.
Pinna
or
Auricle
What is the deep depression leading into the ear canal called?
Concha cava
What is the small flap of skin anterior tothe ear canal called?
tragus
Together the _____ and the ____ ____ comprise the external ear.
- Auricle
2. Ear canal
The s-shaped ear canal runs from the auricle to the ____ ____.
tympanic membrane (ear drum)
The ear canal has two means of trapping potentially harmful organisms before they can enter deep into the ear canal. What are they?
- small hairs lining the canal.
2. cells that produce cerumen (ear wax)
What is the physical boundary between the external ear and the middle ear?
tympanic membrane
When sound waves traveling down the ear canal hit the tympanic membrane, what does it do?
Vibrates.
The middle ear is divided into 2 cavities by the ossicles. What are the 2 cavities filled with?
Air
Most lateral bone in the middle ear?
Malleus
What is the communication point between the middle and inner ear?
The oval window.
Which of the ossicles rests against the oval window?
Stapes
Between the tympanic membrane and the inner ear, 3 bones extend. What are their names?
- malleus
- incus
- Stapes
What can happen if too much pressure builds up in the inner ear?
Damage to the ossicles
The cavity above the ossicles is called…?
The Epitympanic recess
What is the cavity below the ossicles called?
The tympanic cavity
The most medial ossicle?
Stapes
Tube linking nasal cavity and middle ear called?
Pharyngotympanic tuble
This bone attaches to the tympanic membrane.
Malleus
Ossicle in the middle of the other two.
Incus
The organ for sensing hearing. Shell like structure:
Cochlea
Structures in the inner ear located close to the cochlea. Similar structure to cochlea, but sense equilibrium.
semicircular canals
Nerve that brings special sensory information about equilibrium from semicircular canals, and sound from cochlear:
CN VIII Vestibulocochlear
External opening in the temporal bone = external opening into the ear canal.
External auditory meatus
OR
External acoustic meatus
There are 2 major aspects of the temporal bone.
1, Squamous part (outer flattened section)
2. petrous part (inside the skull, thickened section visible from superior view of skull floor)
Bone located on the lower lateral aspect of the skull, and partly fills the floor of the skull.
Temporal bone
The mastoid process of the temporal bone is usually filled with a network of hollow spaces called what?
*Mastoid air cells (or mastoid sinuses).
Structures of the inner ear are embedded deep in which bone?
Temporal bone
What is the purpose of the mastoid sinuses?
*reduce skull weight.
*Help equalise middle ear pressure
(direct communication between middle ear and mastoid air cells via opening in the wall of the middle ear. But infections in inner ear can also spread to the mastoid air cells.)
Opening between the petrous part of temporal bone and the inside of the skull.
Internal auditoriy meatus
or
Internal acoustic meatus
What passes through the internal auditory meatus?
- CN VIII Vestibulocochlear nerve traveling from the inner ear to the brain.
- CN VII Facial Nerve (on its way to the face - exits skull through stylomastoid foramen)
Name the ossicles:
- Malleus
- Incus
- Stapes
Air filled space with a chain of 3 bones strung across it?
Middle ear
The ossicular chain extends from the medial surface of the _____ _____ to the _____ _____.
- tympanic membrane
2. oval window.
The oval window opens from the middle ear into the ____ ____.
inner ear
What fits nicely into the oval window?
The footplate of the stapes.
What is the inner ear filled with?
Fluid
Apart from the oval window, there is another opening between the middle and inner ear called, what?
The round window.
What is the secondary tympanic membrane?
The membrane across the round window, dividing the air filled space of the middle ear from the fluid filled space of the inner ear.
What helps excess sound waves to escape from the inner ear and helps to prevent damage to the delicate structures of the inner ear?
The secondary tympanic membrane sealing the space across the round window.
Opening below the stapes and oval window in a diagram of the middle ear.
round window
How many tiny muscles in the middle ear?
2
How many muscles act on the ossicles? What are they called?
2
- Stapedius muscle
- Tensor tympani
Muscle between the posterior wall of the middle ear and stapes. Contraction stiffens the stapes and limits its movement (vibration) in response to sound waves.
Stapedius muscle
This muscle attaches to the malleus and partly to the pharyngotypmanic tube, sphenoid bone and temporal bone.
Tensor tympani
This muscle is about 25mm long. When it contracts it stiffens the malleus, limiting its movement.
Tensor tympani
Why are the tensor tympani and stapedius muscle important?
Excessive sound waves can damage the delicate structures of the inner ear. These 2 muscles can reduce sound conductivity by limiting the movements of the ossicles.
Why are the tensor tympani and stapedius muscle important?
Excessive sound waves can damage the delicate structures of the inner ear. These 2 muscles contract reflexively and reduce sound conductivity by limiting the movements of the ossicles.
What is the sound attenuation reflex?
An involuntary muscle contraction that occurs in the middle ear in response to high-intensity sound stimulus.
This stiffens the ossicles, limiting the transmission of sound waves via the tympanic membrane to the inner ear.
Structure between the cochea and the semicircular canal?
Vestibule
Which nerve innervates the stapedius muscle?
CN VII Facial nerve
Other names for the sound attenuation reflex?
- Acoustic reflex
- Stapedius reflex
- MEM (middle-ear muscles) reflex
- auditory reflex
The inner ear is comprised of 2 major parts. Name them:
- Cochlea
- semicircular canals
(vestibule between them is actually part of the equilibrium system, although sound waves do pass through the vestibule to reach the cochlea)
Which part of the inner ear houses the oval window that communicates with the middle ear?
The vestibule
The cochea is formed by a hollow bone called…?
Bony labyrinth
Inside the bony labyrinth is a tube of membrane called the…?
Membranous labyrinth
The turns of the bony labyrinth centre around a bony core called the…?
the modiolus
What is the modiolus of the ear?
The modiolus is a conical shaped central axis in the cochlea. It consists of spongy bone and the cochlea turns approximately 2.5 times around it.
How many turns does the bony labyrinth have?
about 2 1/2
The very end tip of the cochlea is called…?
The helicotrema (apex)
Both the bony labyrinth and the membranous labyrinth contain what?
Fluid
What is perilymph and what does it do?
The fluid filling the bony labyrinth. Similar constitution to other body fluids like CSF and extracellular tissue fluid. Assists in transmission of sound waves by fluid movement.
Opening between the middle and inner ear at the beginning of the scala vestibuli of the cochlea?
Oval window
Which way does the cochlea coil?
Outside to inside, anticlockwise, from oval window to helicotrema.
What is endolymph?
Comprised of specialised concentrations of ions such as sodium and potassium ions that are important in enabling activation of nerve action potentials in response to sound wave stimulation.
Opening between the middle and inner ear at the beginning of the scala tympani of the cochlea?
Round window.
What is the space extending from the oval window to the helicotrema, and filled with perilymph, called?
The Scala vestibuli
What is the space extending from the round window to the helicotrema, and filled with perilymph, called?
The scala tympani
What is the space in the membranous labyrinth which is filled with endolymph, called?
the Scala media
What is suspended within the membranous labyrinth and surrounded by endolymph?
The Spiral organ
The lower membrane of the membranous labyrinth is called? (Forms the roof of the scala tympani)
Basilar membrane