Hearing

Emma, Cole, Dez, NCB, Steve

Sound

Intensity, Amplitude, Loudness, and Pitch

• Intensity - Sound Power per unit area. Notation is decibels.

• Amplitude - The change in atmospheric pressure caused by sound waves.

• Loudness - The magnitude of a sound in a specific direction.

• Pitch - The quality of a sound by the rate of vibrations producing it.

Timbre • Timbre is the quality of a note or sound that

distinguishes it from different types of sound production.

• It's how we can tell the difference between an A minor played on a trombone and the same note played on a saxaphone.

• It's the harmony of the tone itself.

The Outer Ear

Simply put, the outer ear is used to collect sounds for the inner ear.

The Pinna • The Pinna collects sounds, and allows for

localization to take place. It filters out sounds and selects those found in human speech. It also is responsible for amplifying sounds.

Other Directional Cues

The ability to detect sound through different cues such as time, distance, and direction.

Ear Canal, Eardrum, and Middle Ear

• Ear Canal - Allows for sound waves to be transported into the ear.

• Eardrum - Converts and amplifies vibration of the air, into vibration of fluid. Rupturing your eardrum can lead to conductive hearing loss

• Middle ear - Transfers accoustic energy into fluid waves.

The Hammer

The Hammer, also known as the Malleus, is a small bone in the middle ear that transmits vibrations of the eardrum to the incus.

The Inner Ear

How is sound transmitted within the ear?

How does a signal get to the brain?

Anvil (Incus)

• the middle of the three ossicles of the ear, which, with the stapes and malleus, serves to conduct vibrations from the tympanic membrane to the inner ear.

Inner Ear• The innermost part of the ear. It contains the cochlea (the spiral shape part

that has lots of neural receptors for picking up auditory stimuli), semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.

Stirrup (Stapes)

• the stirrup-shaped small bone or ossicle in the middle ear which is attached through the incudostapedial joint to the incus laterally and to the fenestra ovalis, the "oval window", medially.

• smallest and lightest bone in the human body

• The stapes transmits the sound vibrations from the incus to the membrane of the inner ear inside the fenestra ovalis.

Oval Windowan oval opening at the head of the cochlea, connecting the

middleand inner ear, through which sound vibrations of the stapes aretransmitted.

Cochleaa bony, spiral-shaped, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound

waves travel and trigger nerve impulses. -vital component in hearing. -Nerve impulses that send auditory signals to the brain for interpretation are

sent from it.-greek word for "snail" - like spiral shape

The Auditory Nerve

• The nerve that carries signals from the Cochlea in the inner ear to the auditory centers of the brain.

• It's a sensory nerve. It carries information about its environment to the brain.

Deafness- Sensorial/nerve deafness - Deafness that occurs due to

damage to the inner ear, auditory nerve, or damage to the higher cognitive regions of the brain.

- Conduction Deafness - Deafness due to problems conducting sound waves. Usually from damage to the middle ear or outer ear.

Place Theory

The theory that states that our perception of what we hear is based off of component vibrations along the Basilar membrane.