The ear is divided into three regions: External/outer, middle, and inner ear.

A. External ear- Consists of the auricle (pinna) and the auditory canal (external
auditory meatus).
• 1. Auricles/pinna consist of elastic cartilage covered by skin.
– Its function is to gather sound waves and funnel the to the auditory
canal. The way the sound bounces off the auricles allows the brain to
detect the direction of sound.
• 2. External auditory canals run from the auricle to the eardrum. The skin contains
modified sebaceous glands called ceruminous glands that produce cerumen (ear
wax). Sound travels through the canal until it meets the eardrum, this causes it to
vibrate, thus the bones in the middle ear vibrate.

• B. Middle ear is also known as the tympanic cavity that lies within the temporal
bone. It has four openings: the epitympanic recess that leads to t he mastoid
process, the oval window connecting to the inner ear, the round window leads to
the temporal bone and the pharyngotympanic tube (auditory tube) leads to the
pharynx.

• C. The inner ear is also called the labyrinth that lies within the temporal bone. The
membranous labyrinth are sacs and ducts within the bony labyrinth. Both types of
labyrinths are filled with fluid.
• The ear of a trained, young individual can hear
sound overa frequency range of 20 to 20,000
Hz, yet still can distinguish between two pitches
that have only a 0.3% difference in frequency.
The human ear can detect differences in sound
intensities of only 0.1 to 0.5 dB, while the range
of audible intensities covers twelve orders of
magnitude (1012), from the barely audible to
the limits of painful loudness
 A. Outer Ear- consists of auricle and external auditory canal.
1. Auricle (pinna) - made of elastic cartilage covered by thin skin.
2. External Auditory canal - tube leading from auricle to tympanic
membrane.
• skin lining the canal has glands that secrete ear wax

• Sound waves are funneled by the pinna, or auricle, into the external
• auditory meatus (fig. 10.17). These two structures form
• the outer ear. The external auditory meatus channels the sound
• waves (while increasing their intensity) to the eardrum, or tympanic
• membrane. Sound waves in the external auditory meatus
• produce extremely small vibrations of the tympanic membrane;
• movements of the eardrum during speech (with an average
• sound intensity of 60 dB) are estimated to be about the diameter
• of a molecule of hydrogen!
1. The ear drum (tympanic membrane) is the border between
the outer and middle ear.
2. The middle ear joins with the nasopharynx via the
eustachian tube (auditory tube).
3. Eustachian tube equalizes pressure on both sides of the
external tympanic membrane.
• The auditory (eustachian) tube is a passageway leading from the middle ear to the
nasopharynx (a cavity positioned behind the nasal cavity and extending down to the
soft palate). The auditory tube is usually collapsed, so that debris and infectious
agents are prevented from traveling from the oral cavity to the middle ear. In order to
open the auditory tube, the tensor tympani muscle, attaching to the auditory tube and
the malleus (fig. 10.18), must contract. This occurs during swallowing, yawning, and
sneezing. People sense a “popping” sensation in their ears as they swallow when
driving up a mountain because the opening of the auditory canal permits air to move
from the region of higher pressure in the middle ear to the region of lower pressure in
the nasopharynx.
4. It has 3 small ossicles (bones);
malleus, incus, and stapes.
a) The malleus (hammer) attaches to
tympanic membrane.
b) The incus, (anvil) located between
the malleus and stapes.
c) The stapes (stirrup) attaches to the
oval window
C. Inner Ear - (osseous labyrinth)

1. Vestibule - central portion of inner

ear
a)this portion senses gravity changes
as well as linear and angular
acceleration.
C. Inner Ear - (osseous labyrinth)

2. Three semicircular canals - projects

from the posterior end of vestibule.
a) It is stimulated by sudden
movements or changes in the rate
or direction of movement.
3. The cochlea - bony cone
extending anterior from the
vestibule.

a)Organ of Corti is the organ responsible

for hearing.
b)Cochlear cavity has 3 chambers and the
Organ of Corti (page 729 figure 40.10)
• The external ear funnels sound waves to the external
auditory meatus
• In some animals, the ears can be moved like radar antennas
to seek out sound
• The middle ear is an air-filled cavity in the temporal bone that opens via the auditory
(eustachian) tube into the nasopharynx and through the nasopharynx to the exterior
• The tube is usually closed, but during swallowing, chewing, and yawning it opens,
keeping the air pressure on the two sides of the eardrum equalized.
• The three auditory ossicles, the malleus, incus, and stapes, are located in the middle
ear
• The manubrium (handle of the malleus) is attached to the back of the tympanic
membrane. Its head is attached to the wall of the middle ear, and its short process is
attached to the incus, which in turn articulates with the head of the stapes
• The stapes is named for its resemblance to a stirrup. Its foot plate is attached by an
annular ligament to the walls of the oval window
• Two small skeletal muscles, the tensor tympani and the stapedius, are also located in
the middle ear.
• Contraction of the former pulls the manubrium of the malleus medially and decreases the vibrations of
the tympanic membrane; contraction of the latter pulls the foot plate of the stapes out of the oval
window. The functions of the ossicles and the muscles are considered in more detail below
• The inner ear (labyrinth) is made up of two parts, one within the other. The bony labyrinth is a series of channels in the petrous portion of the
temporal bone. Inside these channels, surrounded by a fluid called perilymph, is the membranous labyrinth (Figure 13–3). This membranous
structure more or less duplicates the shape of the bony channels. It is filled with a K +-rich fluid called endolymph, and there is no communication
between the spaces filled with endolymph and those filled with perilymph.
• Cochlea
• The cochlear portion of the labyrinth is a coiled tube which in humans is 35 mm long and makes a two and three quarter turns. Throughout its length,
the basilar membrane and Reissner's membrane divide it into three chambers or scalae (Figure 13–4). The upper scala vestibuli and the lower scala
tympani contain perilymph and communicate with each other at the apex of the cochlea through a small opening called the helicotrema. At the base
of the cochlea, the scala vestibuli ends at the oval window, which is closed by the footplate of the stapes. The scala tympani ends at the round window,
a foramen on the medial wall of the middle ear that is closed by the flexible secondary tympanic membrane. The scala media, the middle cochlear
chamber, is continuous with the membranous labyrinth and does not communicate with the other two scalae.
• Organ of Corti
• Located on the basilar membrane is the organ of Corti, the structure that contains the hair cells, which are the auditory receptors. This organ extends
from the apex to the base of the cochlea and consequently has a spiral shape. The processes of the hair cells pierce the tough, membrane-like reticular
lamina that is supported by the pillar cells or rods of Corti (Figure 13–4). The hair cells are arranged in four rows: three rows of outer hair cells lateral
to the tunnel formed by the rods of Corti, and one row of inner hair cells medial to the tunnel. There are 20,000 outer hair cells and 3500 inner hair
cells in each human cochlea. Covering the rows of hair cells is a thin, viscous, but elastic tectorial membrane in which the tips of the hairs of the outer
but not the inner hair cells are embedded. The cell bodies of the sensory neurons that arborize around the bases of the hair cells are located in the
spiral ganglion within the modiolus, the bony core around which the cochlea is wound. Ninety to 95% of these sensory neurons innervate the inner
hair cells; only 5–10% innervate the more numerous outer hair cells, and each sensory neuron innervates several outer hair cells. By contrast, most of
the efferent fibers in the auditory nerve terminate on the outer rather than inner hair cells. The axons of the afferent neurons that innervate the hair
cells form the auditory (cochlear) division of the eighth cranial nerve.
• In the cochlea, tight junctions between the hair cells and the adjacent phalangeal cells prevent endolymph from reaching the bases of the cells.
However, the basilar membrane is relatively permeable to perilymph in the scala tympani, and consequently, the tunnel of the organ of Corti and the
bases of the hair cells are bathed in perilymph. Because of similar tight junctions, the arrangement is similar for the hair cells in other parts of the inner
ear; that is, the processes of the hair cells are bathed in endolymph, whereas their bases are bathed in perilymph.
Hearing and Equilibrium
Otoliths