CNS 04

1. Anatomy of cochlea, semicircular canals and vestibule

Cochlea
• Waves in cochlear fluid set the basilar membrane in vibratory motion
– Movement in basilar membrane stimulates mechanosensory (hair cells)
to transduce mechanical waves to neural signals
• Receptive hair cells are bent as basilar membrane is deflected up and down
– Mechanical deformation of specific hair cells is transduced into neural
signals that are transmitted to thalamus and then on to the auditory
cortex in temporal lobe of brain for sound perception
• Contains receptors for conversion of sound waves into nerve impulses, which
makes hearing possible

Hair cells
• Receptors for sound
• Inner hair cells and outer hair cells
• Protruding from each hair cell are stereocilia, which contact the tectorial
membrane

Tectorial membrane and Hair cell

Stapes tap on oval window  fluid-filled vibrations within Scala vestibuli  if it
moves and hits a point on basilar membrane, it moves in Scala media and cause
basilar membrane to vibrate  vibration causes endolymph to rush through the
area between tectorial membrane and hair cells  as endolymph rush in, it
causes hair cell to shear against tectorial membrane (movement of hair)  when
stereocilia beat towards one side, potassium/calcium rush in (from endolymph) 
depolarization occurs in hair cell  calcium stimulates fusion of vesicles
(glutamate: neurotransmitter) and release vesicles (glutamate)  if stereocilia
moves away, hyperpolarization
 Role of inner hair cells
• Transform the mechanical forces of sound (cochlear fluid vibration) into
electrical impulses of hearing (action potentials)
• Inner hair cells communicate via a chemical synapse with the auditory
(cochlear) nerve

Role of outer hair cells

• Support the inner hair cells
• Actively and rapidly change length in response to changes in membrane
potential (electromotility)
• Amplify the motion of the basilar membrane
• Modulates sound

Vestibule apparatus
• Located in the inner ear
• Provides information necessary for sense of equilibrium and for
coordinating head movements with eye and postural movements
• Two sets of structures:
– Semicircular canals
– Otolith organs
• Detects orientation and motion relative to axis of gravity
• Vestibular apparatus is divided into two senses
– Static equilibrium (Saccule)
• Responsible for vertical linear acceleration
• Orientation of the body relative to the gravity
– Dynamic equilibrium (utricle)
• Responsible for linear acceleration in the horizontal
• Senses movement of the head in space

Semicircular canals
• Detect rotational acceleration or deceleration in any direction
• Hair cells situated on top of ampulla
• Hair cells embedded into gelatinous layer, the cupula
 Role of semicircular canals
• Neural signals generated in response to mechanical deformation of hair
cells by specific movement of fluid and related structures – rotational
movement
• Acceleration or deceleration during rotation of the head in any
direction causes endolymph movement in at least one of the
semicircular canals
i. When you rotate head to the right, due to inertia, endolymph
stays in stationary position and as semicircular canals rotate,
the fluid rushes over to specialized detector and bends the
entire hair cells
• Vestibular input goes to vestibular nuclei in brain stem and to cerebellum
for use in maintaining balance and posture, controlling eye movement,
perceiving motion and orientation

Otolith organs
• Otolith organs: utricle and saccule
– Provide information about the position of the head relative to gravity
• Utricle detects changes in rate of linear movement in
acceleration and deceleration (horizontal)
• Saccule provides information important for determining head
position in relation to gravity away from a horizontal position
(veritical)
2. Explain sound waves

• Hearing is a conversion of sound vibration by sensory transduction to

electrical chemical signals
• Important to localize the sound to determine where the sound is coming
from
– Carried out between volume and speed of sound signals from left vs
right ear

• Hearing is the neural perception of sound energy

• Involves two aspects
– Identification of the sounds (“what”)
– Localization of the sounds (“where”)
• Sound waves
– Travelling vibrations of air
– Consist of alternate regions of compression and rarefaction of air
molecules

• Pitch (tone) of sound

– Frequency determines pitch
– Depends on frequency of air waves
– Can vary from high to deep
 – Frequency of the tone is encoded by region of cochlea
• Long spiral = deep tones detected
• Peak/base of the spiral = high tones

• Intensity (loudness)
– Depends on amplitude of air waves
– Measured in dB (decibels)
• Every 10 dB indicates a tenfold increase in loudness
– Translated through to cochlea where it produces either low
frequency or high frequency firing of autitory nerve axon

• Timbre (quality)
– Determined by overtones
• other quieter frequencies added on to the main pitch
frequency
– ability to distinguish different voices

Sound waves are detected in the ears by their movement through the pinna,
to the tympanic membrane.
- Vibration of the tympanic membrane causes movement of the middle
ear bones>malleus, incus, stapes. The movement of the stapes
causes movement of the oval window at the beginning of the cochlea, this
sound can move one of 2 ways:

i. In order for sound to be detected, sound waves need to move from

tympanic membrane, into the Scala vestibuli, through the vestibular
membrane, into the Scala media, and then through the basilar
membrane.
ii. The basilar membrane holds the Organ of Corti and vibration of
this structure will force the stereocilia to move as the tectorial
membrane is held stiff.
iii. The movement of the organ of corti forces mechanically
gated ion channels open.
iv. The receptor potentials generated in the hair cells here will result
in chemical release of varying amounts of NT onto the
cochlear nerve>>>cochlear nerve will eventually join with the
vestibular nerve to form the vestibulocochlear nerve. These nerves
join in the pons
3. Describe the structure and function of outer, middle and inner ear

Outer ear
- Consists of pinna, external auditory meatus, and tympanic membrane (ear
drum)
o Sound is gathered in pinna, sound is funneled into external auditory
meatus and reaches tympanic membrane
 Tympanic membrane is stretched along the entrance to air-filled
middle ear
 Tympanic membrane separates outer and middle ear
 Air filled external ear is separated from air-filled middle ear by
tympanic membrane
 Membrane vibrates when struck by sound
- Transmits airborne sound waves to fluid-filled inner ear
- Amplifies sound energy
 – auricle (pinna) [cartilage covered with skin]
– gathers sound wave from the environment and feed it to external
auditory canal
– external auditory canal (acoustic meatus)
– passes on through the canal to eardrum
– tympanic membrane or eardrum [skin and connective tissue]

• The tympanic membrane is stretched across the entrance to the air-filled

middle ear
– Tympanic membrane separates middle/outer ear
• Vibrates when struck by sound waves
• Outside the eardrum is exposed to atmospheric pressure
• Inside the eardrum (middle ear) is exposed to atmospheric pressure only
occasionally via opening of the Eustachian (auditory 유스키안) tube which
extends to the back of the throat

Middle ear
- Transmits airborne sound waves (via vibration in tiny bones) to fluid-filled
inner ear
- Air filled middle ear, we find 3 bones: Malleus, Incus, stapes
o These carry vibration from tympanic membrane to oval window of
cochlea (fluid filled structure)
 Requires amplification in the vibration to go from air-filled to fluid-
filled structures
- Amplifies sound energy

- Soundwave from external ear strike tympanic membrane and cause it to

vibrate
- Vibration preserves the sound as it passes from air to 3 bones which vibrate
against one another
o Inner ear ossicles (malleus, incus, stapes)
 Carries soundwave to oval window where it passes from air to
aqueous environment
 Amplification of sound through middle ear to compensate
the jump from vibration in air to vibration in fluid
- Challenge with amplification in middle ear is
o met by 2 safety measures
 Small muscles within inner ear attached to portion of the ear
drum and middle ear ossicles
 Tensor tympani muscle and stapedius muscle constrict and
reduce the amplitude of the oscillation of the vibration in
the middle ear

Middle ear bones

• Transfer vibrations through ossicles (malleus, incus, stapes) to oval
window (entrance into fluid-filled cochlea)
 Protective mechanisms
- Tensor tympany and stapedius
- two skeletal muscles, innervated by different cranial nerve's.
- These muscles contract and dampen the intense and potentially
damaging sound waves passing from the middle to the inner ear
- Tensor tympany is connected to malleus
- (Malleus is connected to incus, incus is connected to stapes, stapes
is connected to oval window)
- Tensor tympany contraction and pulls mellus medially. This results in
tensed tympanic membrane. Compression and decompression of
the tympanic membrane to create vibration of ossicles will be
dampened as result of tensed tympanic membrane.

- Auditory ossicles (malleus,incus,stapese) connect tympanic membrane to

oval window, transferring vibrations
- At oval window, there is a transition from vibration in air into vibration in fluid
(Scala vestibuli)
o Three chambers in cochlea (inner ear)
 Scala vestibuli, Scala tympany, Scala media,
i. Vibration travel down to Scala vestibuli and cause vibration which
cross over to Scala tympany
ii. Scala tympany is connected to round window facing middle ear
o Scala media: auditory sense organ present (organ of corti)
o Waves travel across Scala vestibuli and Scala tympany to cause
vibration in basilar membrane

o Tectorial membrane is rigid (doesn’t move)

o Basilar membrane is elastic (moves)
o In response to vibration, basilar membrane moves up and down,
carrying hair cells with it, and produce successive bending of hair cells
embedded in tectorial membrane
Inner ear
Houses two different sensory systems
- Cochlea
o Contains receptors for conversion of sound waves into nerve impulses,
which makes hearing possible
o 3 chambers
 Scala vestibula (upper)
 Oval window
o Sound wave creates vibration that’s compressing
and decompressing membrane and vibrates (moves)
malleus, incus and stapes. Stapes taps oval window,
specifically Scala vestibula
 Rich in perilymph
 Scala media (middle layer)
 Rich in endolymph
o Potassium rich fluid
 Possesses special detector (hair cells)
o Hair cells covered in tectorial membrane
 Organ of corti
 Important for sound
 Scala tympani (lower)
 Round window
o Prevents scattering of sound waves
 Rich in perilymph
- Vestibular membrane
o Separates Scala vestibuli and Scala media
- Basilar membrane
o Separates Scala tympani and Scala media
o Most important
 As stapes hit oval window and create fluid filled vibration within
Scala vestibuli, vibration move and stimulate different portions of
basilar membrane
 Allows us to hear different frequencies (different pitches)
How?
: high frequency stimulates base
: lower frequency stimulates apex (top)
 Amplitude = loudness
How?
: bigger amplitude causes basilar membrane to vibrate more (vice
versa)  more hair cells activate  more action potential 
increase in sound

- Vestibule
o Necessary for sense of equilibrium
o Consists of utricle and saccule
 Contain hair cells (otolithic membrane)
 Makes maculae
o Special detector for static equilibrium

- Ampulla of semicircular canals contains hair cells that is responsible for

dynamic equilibrium

• Bony labyrinth
– Tortuous channels worming their way through the temporal bone
– Contains the vestibule, the cochlea, and the semicircular canals
– Filled with perilymph
• Membranous labyrinth
 – Series of membranous sacs within the bony labyrinth
– Filled with a potassium-rich fluid (endolymph)

4. Explain major events involved in hearing

i. Sound waves funneled into ear canal through pinna and through ear
canal
ii. Sound waves push on tympanic membrane
iii. Tympanic membrane compresses and vibrate the ossicles
 a. First, malleus vibrates  incus  stapes
b. Stapes is connected to oval window at cochlea
iv. Stapes taps on oval window and turns the mechanical stimuli (vibration)
into fluid filled vibrations
a. Mechanical vibration  fluid filled vibration

5. Describe the auditory pathway

How sounds make their way from source to brain

i. Outer ear captures the sound and travels via ear canal
ii. Sound wave reaches ear drum
iii. Ear drum vibrates and vibrates three tiny bones
a. Malleus, incus, stapes
i. These bones amplify or increase sound vibration and send
them to cochlea
iv. Cochlea is shaped like a snail and is filled with fluid
a. Sound vibration make this fluid ripple to create waves
v. Hair like cells (stereocilia) ride these waves and move
vi. These stereocilia turn the movements into electrical signal
a. Different hair cells respond to different frequencies of sound
i. Hair cells at the base = high pitch
ii. Hair cells toward the top = lower pitch
iii. Very top = lowest pitch
vii. As hair move, ion rushes into hair cell from top, causing release of
neurotransmitters at the bottom of the hair cells
viii. Chemcials bind to auditory nerve cells and create electrical signlas
ix. Electrical singals travel along auditory nerve to brain

6. Compare static and dynamic equilibrium and describe the structure and
function of receptor organs for equilibrium
Outer bony labyrinth
 Vestibule
o Made up of Perilymph
: high Na / low K
- Contains within Inner membranous labyrinth filled with endolymph
- Saccule & utricle
o Inside saccule and utricle, special detector ‘Macula’ is present

- Inside saccule macula is situated on the wall of the utricle,

o Hair cells points out
o Responsible for vertical linear acceleration

- Inside utricle macula is situated on the floor of the utricle,

o Hair cells points up
o Responsible for linear acceleration in the horizontal axis
Ex) when you’re driving and slam on the breaks, head moves forward 
utricle (macula) responds
o Head tilt

Semicircular canal

- When your head moves around, the liquid inside the semicircular canals
sloshes around and moves the tiny hairs that line each canal.
- These hairs translate the movement of the liquid into nerve messages that are
sent to your brain. Your brain then can tell your body how to stay balanced.
- detect rotational or angular acceleration or deceleration of the head, such as
when starting or stopping spinning, somersaulting, or turning the head.
- receptive hair cells of each semicircular canal are situated on top of a ridge
located in the ampulla.
- The hairs are embedded in a gelatinous layer, the cupula, which protrudes
into the endolymph within the ampulla.
o The cupula sways in the direction of fluid movement, much like
seaweed leaning in the direction of the prevailing tide.
- Rotation of head causes endolymph movement in the canals
o Initially, fluid does not move due to inertia
o When fluid moves cupula leans in opposite direction of head roation
bending the sensory hairs embedded in it, causing depolarization