The Ear (unit 3) Flashcards
Frequency
The number of complete wavelengths that pass a point in a given second
Pitch
A tone’s experienced highness or lowness; depends on frequency
Audition
The sense or act of hearing
Middle ear
The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing three tiny bones (hammer,anvil, and stirrup) that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochlea’s oval window
Organ of corti
Involved in transduction
Touch
Pressure, warmth, cold, and pain
Cochlea
A coiled, bony, fluid filled tube on the in er ear;sound waves traveling through the cochlear fluid trigger nerve impulses
Inner ear
The innermost part of the ear, containing semicircular canal, cochlea, and vestibular sacks
Sensorineural hearing loss
Hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or to the auditory nerves. (Common)
Conduction hearing loss
Hearing loss cause by damage to the mechanical system the conducts sound waves to the cochlea (less common)
Cochlear implant
A device for converting sounds to electrical signals and stimulating the auditory nerve
Place theory
In hearing, the theory that links that pitch we here with the place where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated
Frequency theory
In hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, therefore enabling us to sense its pitch (AKA temporal theory)
Hearing step by step
Sound waves strike the eardrum>transmit to cochlea>bend the hairs that trigger nerve impulses> axons transmit to auditory cortex
