Click Image to Enlarge. External auditory canal or tube. This is the tube that connects the outer ear to the inside or middle ear. Tympanic membrane eardrum. The tympanic membrane divides the external ear from the middle ear. Three small bones that are connected and transmit the sound waves to the inner ear. The bones are called:. Eustachian tube.
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How does the ear work?
It is a complex system of parts that not only allows humans to hear, but also makes it possible for humans to walk. Ears come in many shapes and sizes. Researchers also found that the average ear is about 2.
How do you hear?
The peripheral hearing system consists of three parts which are the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear:. The central hearing system consists of the auditory nerve and an incredibly complex pathway through the brain stem and onward to the auditory cortex of the brain. The physiology of hearing, just like its anatomy, is very complex indeed and is best understood by looking at the role played by each part of our hearing system described above. Sound waves, which are really vibrations in the air around us, are collected by the pinna on each side of our head and are funnelled into the ear canals. These sound waves make the eardrum vibrate. The eardrum is so sensitive to sound vibrations in the ear canal that it can detect even the faintest sound as well as replicating even the most complex of sound vibration patterns. The eardrum vibrations caused by sound waves move the chain of tiny bones the ossicles — malleus, incus and stapes in the middle ear transferring the sound vibrations into the cochlea of the inner ear. This happens because the last of the three bones in this chain, the stapes, sits in a membrane-covered window in the bony wall which separates the middle ear from the cochlea of the inner ear.
If you cannot see the Flash Movie playing then you may not have the flash player installed. The latest version of the Flash player can be downloaded free from Macromedia More information and help with installing the Flash Player can be foundon the BBC's Webwise pages. Your ears are your organs of hearing. In order to hear, however, you also need your cochlear nerves to transmit nerve impulses to your brain, which then interpret the sounds coming from the world surrounding you. Your ear flap funnels sound waves into your outer ear canal. The waves travel along this passage until they hit your eardrum and cause it to vibrate. As a result, your ossicles start moving. They, in turn, pass on vibrations to a thin layer of tissue at the entrance of your inner ear called the oval window.
