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How do we hear?
By: Paul Bang
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Sound Waves
Eardrum
Middle Ear
Cochlea
Hair Cells
Auditory Nerve
Auditory Cortex
Hearing Loss
References
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What are Sound Waves?
Sound waves cannot be seen by our eyes but it lets us hear how
loud, high or low the sounds we hear are!
Short wavelength = high frequency (high pitched sounds)Long wave
length = low frequency (low pitched sounds)
Great amplitude = loud soundsSmall amplitudes = soft sounds
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The Eardrum
Did you know when sound waves get to the eardrum, your eardrums
vibrate?! The eardrum is inside your ear and plays a very important
for you to hear sounds and listen to music!
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The Middle Ear
The middle ear is the area between the eardrum and the cochlea
containing three tiny bones; the hammer, anvil, and stirrup.
These tiny bones picks up vibrations and transmits them to the
cochlea.
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Cochlear
The snail shaped tube located in the inner ear.
Sound waves travel through the cochlear which triggers nerve
impulses.
The vibration causes ripples in the basilar membrane, bending
the hair cells lining its surface.
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Hair Cells
The cochlea has 16,000 hair cells Because of the special protein
at the tip of the cell triggers a neural response andthanks to
their extreme sensitivity and speed, hair cells are very
responsive.
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Auditory Nerve
The impulses that are received from the hair cells are
transmitted to the auditory nerve.
The auditory nerve sends neural messages (via the thalamus) to
the auditory cortex which is in the brains temporal lobe.
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Auditory Cortex
The auditory cortex, which is located in the brains temporal
lobe, is where we process the sounds that we hear!
This part of the brain is what interprets all our hearing.
Temporal lobe which is located at the lower lobe of the cerebral
hemisphere.
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Hearing Loss
There are two types of hearing loss but the most common is
sensorineural hearing loss.
The culprit to hearing loss is the damage of the hair cells in
the cochlea.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss:The damage to the cochleas hair cell
receptors can cause sensorineural hearing loss (or nerve
deafness).
Diseases can cause these receptors to be damaged but more often
the culprits are biological changes linked with heredity, aging,
and prolonged exposure to ear-splitting noise or music.
Conduction Hearing Loss:Less common form of hearing loss caused
by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the
cochlea.
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References
All information was received from:
Myers, D.G. (2015). Psychology (11th ed.). New York, NY: Worth
Publishers.
