The Inner Ear Flashcards
The inner ear house structures for….
Hearing and Balance
What structures of the inner ear are important for hearing?
Cochlea & Auditory Nerve
What structures are important for balance?
Semicircular & Vestibular Portion of the 8th Nerve
To maintain balance, we rely on input from how many body systems?
Three
What are the body systems we rely input from to maintain balance?
- Visual
- Proprioceptive
- Vestibular
Define “visual” for the vestibular system
It provides vision, light, and help us adjust to our surroundings accordinly
Define “proprioceptive” for the vestibular system
It provides info from supporting structures such as our muscle/tendons
Define “vestibular” of for the vestibular system
It helps us maintain our balance by using gravity and inertia for info
The semi-circular canals provide…
Angular Acceleration
How does our semi-circular canals tell us when we’re turning?
From our otolith
How does the otolith work?
Since it’s organized in different planes, when it moves around the semi-circular canals, it gives stimulation to our brain to know when we’re turning
The utricle/saccule provides ….
Linear acceleration
How does the utricle/saccule work?
It does not involve turning but up/down and fwd/back
Where is the utricle/saccule located?
Between the portion of the semi-circular and cochlea
What are some things we should note about the Auditory Mechanism?
- As we transition from an air-filled space, we enter a fluid-filled cochlea
- Organ of corti is where the action occurs
- THREE rows of outer hair cell
- ONE row of inner hair cells
- Tectorial membrane is where the shearing movement of the stereocilia occurs
- Tonotopically Organized
For the Auditory system, where is the stereocilia located?
On the top of the 3 rows of outer hair cells and 1 row of inner hair cells
For the Auditory system, the tectorial membrane undergoes the shearing action when…
It touches the stereocilia which helps stimulate the shearing action
For the Auditory system, its tonotopically organized …
According to frequency
What does tonotopically organized mean?
Depending on the frequency, one part of the cochlea would respond
For our cochlea being tonotopically organized, how does it relate to the turns on the cochlea?
When we get to the first turn(base), the higher frequencies would respond and then it gets lower in frequencies and spirals down into the apex
What are the structures of the neurons?
Cell body, Axon, Dendrites
What’s the purpose of the neurons?
To carry information in one direction or the other
Afferent carries
Info from the brain to cochlea
Efferent carries
Info from the brain to the cochlea
The cochlea has _____ afferent neurons and ____ efferent neurons
30,000 and 1,800
For the vestibular portion of the inner ear, what are the disorders?
- Vestibular Dysfunction
2. Hearing Loss
What disorders falls under the vestibular dysfunction?
- Vertigo
2. Dizziness
Define vertigo
It’s true spinning. Where either you’re spinning, or the room is
Define Dizziness
Has a less concrete definition. It pertains to being off-balanced or light-headed
What type of hearing loss is associated w/Inner Ear Hearing loss?
SNHL
What SNHL mean?
That BC and AC are =
With a SNHL, what does the patient experience?
A loss of sensitivity and increase in distortion
Why would a patient w/a SNHL state “I can hear, I can’t understand?
They lose volume and clarity due to the broaden of the cochlea. When we a cochlear damage exist and send a 100Hz tone, we’re impacting the frequency response of the cochlea making it less specific and this adds more sounds is perceived as noise
What are prenatal causes of SNHL?
- Genetics
- Syndromes
- Rh factor incompatibility
- Hyperbilirubinemia
- Viruses
- Anoxia
Explain genetics being a factor for SNHL
Baby could be born with HL or can develop progressively due to the child getting the recessive gene