Case Study - Special Senses

Freddy, a 67-year-old father and grandfather, was sitting on his couch with his
hand over his left ear. His whole family was visiting and the noise level was pretty high
in the living room. Whats wrong? asked his wife. I never realized how loud our family
is, he laughed. For most of his life, Freddy suffered from complete hearing loss in his
left ear. Recently, he underwent a surgery that replaced two auditory ossicles in his left
ear and now his hearing has been restored. Freddy is hearing his family in a whole new
way. After reading about the process of hearing in this chapter, explain the reason for
Freddys hearing loss, how this affected his ability to locate the direction of noises, and
how his hearing was restored.

Answer:
Freddys surgery replaced two of the three auditory ossicles. Recall that the
auditory ossicles distribute sound waves from the tympanic membrane to the oval window
of the inner ear, where the sound waves can then stimulate hair cells of the cochlear duct.
If Freddys auditory ossicles were not functional, we can predict that his loss of hearing
was conductive hearing loss due to the absence of functional auditory ossicles. To address
the question of sound location, recall that the brain can determine the direction from
which a sound is coming because of the time interval between when the sound reaches one
ear and the time it reaches the other. Since Freddy had complete hearing loss in one ear,
his ability to determine the direction from which a sound came was probably diminished.
Finally, by replacing the damaged auditory ossicles, Freddys hearing was restored,
because sound waves can now be conducted from Freddys tympanic membrane to his oval
window.

Case Study Reproductive System
1. If an adult male were castrated (testes were removed), what would happen to
the levels of GnRH, FSH, LH, and testosterone in his blood? What effect would these
hormonal changes have on his sex characteristics and sexual behavior?
2. If the ovaries are removed from a 20-year-old woman, what happens to the
levels of GnRH, FSH, LH, estrogen, and progesterone in her blood? What side effects
would these hormonal changes have on her sex characteristics and sexual behavior?


Answers:
1. Removing the testes would eliminate the major source of testosterone. Blood levels
of testosterone would therefore decrease. Because testosterone has a negative-
feedback effect on the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, GnRH, FSH, and LH
secretion would increase, and the blood levels of these hormones would increase. An
adult males primary and secondary sex characteristics are already developed;
however, removal of the testes would eliminate sperm production. Also, the lack of
testosterone would cause a decrease in sex drive and muscular strength.
2. The removal of the ovaries from a 20-yearold woman eliminates the major site of
estrogen and progesterone production, thereby causing an increase in GnRH, FSH,
and LH levels due to lack of negative feedback. We would expect to see the
symptoms of menopause, such as cessation of menstruation and reduction in the
size of the uterus, vagina, and breasts. A temporary reduction in sex drive may also
occur.