Third Test 160404 Flashcards
(135 cards)
What are the characteristics of Sound (and how are they measured)?
- amplitude or intensity (measured in decibels, dB)
- frequency or pitch (Hz or kHz or cycles per second)
- phase (used for direction of sound)
What is decibel?
Decibels (dB) = 20 x log10 (p1/p2)
Where p1 and p2 are pressures in dyne/cm2
Define ‘pure tone’
Sound with only one component
Many sounds have regular set of components: eg f, 3f, 5f etc.
What is the ‘fundamental’ frequency?
The lowest frequency
What is ‘harmonics’?
Sound of higher integer multiples
List components of the outer ear
- pinna (auricle or flap)
- auditory canal
Why is the Pinna important?
For sound localization
List the components of the middle ear
- eardrum (tympanic membrane)
- ossicles (malleus, incus and stapes)
Why is the Eustachian (auditory) tube important?
It keeps air pressure equal on both sides of the eardrum
Sounds waves in outer vs inner ear
Outer: in air
Inner: in fluid
The impendance (resistance to compression) of water is much higher than that of air.
Hence without middle ear, 97% of energy would be reflected, but with it only 40% is (so we can hear better)
List the components of the inner ear
- cochlea
- vestibular apparatus
List events of sound reception in inner ear
- sound travels down auditory canal and hits middle ear, the stapes moves like a piston
- pressure wave transmitted through oval window of cochlea
- pressure wave moves basilar membrane - cilia bend on hair cells
- graded potential occurs with release of neurotransmitter
- basilar membrane vibrates, tectorial membrane as well but in a different direction - causes bending of hair cells
- sound to oval window
- wave travels down basilar membrane and reaches maximum height at some point
Describe function of the basilar membrane
Is a mechanical frequency analyzer:
- each location along the membrane is tuned to different frequency due to varying stiffness
- high frequency peak near base (oval window)
- low frequency peak near apex (helicotrema)
Describe the innervation of the organ of Corti
- afferent nerve fibers arise from nerve cell bodies within spiral ganglion
- 95% contact inner hair cells (each of which consists of the sole terminus for up to 10 axons)
- 5% contact the outer hair cells
What are the hair cells innervated by (in the ear)?
The cochlear (auditory) nerve (branch of 8th CN - vestibulocochlear nerve) With neuron cell bodies in the spiral ganglion
Describe the action of the cochlear nerve fibers
They fire in a phase-locked manner
I.e. Fire at peaks of wave
Where does the cochlear nerve project to?
To the dorsal and ventral cochlear nucleus in the medulla
- making tonotopic maps here
Where does the ventral cochlear nucleus project to?
Superior olivary nucleus
- inputs from both ears are correlated here and sound source is localized
- it’s here that there’s a response to inter-aural differences and phase differences
Where does the dorsal cochlear nucleus project to?
Superior olivary nucleus
- with information about the response to sound pattern (e.g. Frequency modulation
Where does the superior olivary nuclei project to?
(Via lateral lemmiscus) to inferior colliculus in midbrain
- cells respond to amplitude and frequency modulation, inter-aural amplitude and phase differences, direction of sound motion in space
Where does the inferior colliculus project to?
Medial geniculate in thalamus
Describe sound localization
Each neuron on the lateral superior olive receives inputs from both ears
- ear located on the same side provides excitatory input to dendrites
- ear located on the opposite side provides an inhibitory input
Describe sound localization based on amplitude
Sound source in front - excitatory and inhibition is equal
Sound to the side - excitatory and inhibition is unequal
Describe the traveling wave theory (by Georg Von Bekesy
- a sound impulse sends a wave along the basilar membrane.
- as the wave moves along the membrane it’s amplitude increases until it reaches a maximum, then falls off sharply until the wave dies out
- where the wave reaches its greatest amplitude is the point at which the frequency of the sound is detected by the ear
- high frequency = base of cochlea
- low frequency = apex