Auditory pathway
Functional anatomy of ear
3 parts
• External ear
• Middle ear
• Internal ear – organ of hearing [cochlea] and
equilibrium [vestibular apparatus]
External ear
Pinna / Auricle External auditory meatus
• Cartilaginous part • Partly cartilaginous and
covered by skin partly bony [within
• Fixed in humans temporal bone]
• Directs the sound waves • Directs sound waves
into the ear into middle ear
• Contains sebaceous
glands
• Secrete cerumen
Middle ear - Tympanic cavity
• Rectangular cavity with
4 walls, floor, roof
Parts
• Tympanic
membrane
• Ear ossicles
• Auditory muscles
• Eustachian tube
• Floor – bony and separates from jugular fossa
• Roof – a small plate of bone tegmen tympani
that separates it from middle cranial fossa
• Lateral wall – tympanic membrane
• Medial wall – oval window, round window -
communicates with internal ear
• Anterior wall – communication with
nasopharynx through Eustachian tube – so it
opens to the exterior
• Posterior - communicates with mastoid
antrum
• Muscles
• Ossicles
• Skeletal
• Tensor tympani
• Malleus
• Keeps the tympanic
• Incus membrane stretched
• Stapes – fits into oval • Stapedius
window of cochlea
• Prevents over vibration
of the stapes
[details of tympanic membrane, ossicles, muscles,
eustachian tube – study from anatomy]
Functions of middle ear
• Receiving sounds from external ear by
tympanic membrane
• Transmitting sounds by vibration of tympanic
membrane and ear ossicles to inner ear
• Impedance matching [details later]
• Protection against loud sound by tympanic
reflex
• Equalisation of pressure on both sides of
tympanic membrane by Eustachian tube
Tympanic reflex
• Contraction of auditory muscles in response to
a loud noise
• [Malleus moves inward, stapes moves outward
• Makes the auditory ossicles stiff
• Transmission of sound is decreased
• Protects tympanic membrane from rupture
• Protects cochlea from damaging effects of loud sounds]
Eustachian tube
• Fibrocartilaginous tube connecting middle ear
with nasal cavity
• Passage of air between middle ear and
atmosphere
• Equalises pressure on both sides of the
tympanic membrane
Internal ear
• Called Labyrinth because of the presence of
complicated series of canals
• Bony labyrinth – outer part within petrous
portion of temporal bone
• Contains perilymph
• Membranous labyrinth – inner to bony
labyrinth
• Contains endolymph
Internal ear
Bony labyrinth Membranous labyrinth
• Cochlea – anterior • Cochlear duct
Hearing
• Vestibule – central • Utricle, saccule
• Semicircular canals - • Semicircular ducts
posterior
Equilibrium
Bony cochlea
• Bony spiral canal like a snail’s shell
• Coiled around a bony axis called modiolus
• Two and a half turns
• Apex – cupula
Cochlea has 3
compartments
• Scala media – or
cochlear duct
• Scala vestibuli – ends at
oval window
• Scala tympani – ends at
round window
Scala media
• – continuation of membranous labyrinth from
vestibule into cochlea
• Contains endolymph
Scala vestibuli Scala tympani
• Channel above the scala • Channel below the scala
media media
• Part of bony labyrinth • Part of bony labyrinth
• Contains perilymph • Contains perilymph
• Ends at oval window • Ends at round window
where it opens into where it opens into
vestibule middle ear cavity
• Separated by vestibular • Separated by basilar
membrane from membrane from
cochlear duct cochlear duct
Helicotrema
Vestibular membrane
Basilar membrane
• Scala tympani and vestibuli are completely
separated from each other except at the
helicotrema –
• an opening at the apex of the cochlea
•
So , Cochlea is made up of -----
• Scala vestibuli
• Scala media
• From oval window to
apex of bony labyrinth • [Membranous cochlea
• Cochlear duct]
• Scala tympani • Contains endolymph
• From apex to round
window
• Contains perilymph
Basilar membrane
• Separates scala media from scala tympani
• The receptor for sound - organ of Corti – rests
on the basilar membrane
• Sound waves cause different parts of the
Basilar membrane to vibrate depending upon
frequency
• High pitched sounds – near oval window
• Low pitched sounds – near helicotrema
Organ of Corti
• Receptor organ for hearing
• Situated on the basilar membrane throughout
the scala media except for a small part on
either end
• Made up of hair cells and supporting cells
• A gelatinous membrane called tectorial
membrane forms the roof of Organ of Corti
Hair cells
• Form the receptor cells
Inner - Situated towards the centre
Outer – situated towards the periphery
• Rest on the supporting cells
• Have hairs called stereocilia in contact with
tectorial membrane
• Sensory nerve fibres distributed around the
hair cells
Supporting Cells of Organ of Corti
• Phalangeal cells
• Pillar cells
• Cells of Hensen
• Cells of Claudius
Auditory pathway
• Receptors - Hair cells in Organ of Corti
• Innervated by sensory neurons
• Bending of stereocilia generates nerve
impulses in these sensory neurons
• These sensory neurons are bipolar neurons
which form the first order neurons of auditory
pathway
First order neurons - Bipolar neurons
• Dendrite synapses with hair cell
• Cell body in spiral ganglion of temporal bone
• Axon forms the cochlear nerve
• Go to the brainstem
• Cochlear nerve enters medulla oblongata
• Divide into two groups
• Terminates in ventral cochlear nucleus and
dorsal cochlear nucleus of same side
II order neuron - Dorsal and ventral
cochlear nuclei in medulla
• Some Axons from these • Other axons terminate
neurons cross to the in superior olivary
opposite side nucleus of same side
• Form lateral lemniscus • Axons from superior
olivary nucleus also join
• Terminate in inferior lateral lemniscus
colliculus of opposite • Terminate in inferior
side colliculus of same side
Third order neurons
• Inferior colliculus in mid brain
• Axons terminate in medial geniculate body of
thalamus
Fourth order neurons
• Medial geniculate body
• Auditory radiations from MGB to primary
auditory area
Auditory areas
• Temporal lobe
• Primary auditory area
• 41,42
• Receives auditory radiation from MGB
• Lesion produces partial deafness in both ears,
more in contralateral ear
• Secondary auditory area or auditory
association area or auditopsychic area
• Receives afferents from primary auditory area
and MGB
• Interpretation of sounds
• Wernicke’s area – 21, 22
• Extends in temporal and parietal lobes
• Not included in auditory area
• Somatic, visual and auditory areas meet
• Involved in higher mental functions
• Thought process
Mechanism of hearing
• External ear
• Directs the sound waves towards the tympanic
membrane
• Middle ear
• Vibration of tympanic membrane by sound waves
• Transmitted to ossicles
• Vibration of stapes against the oval window
• Transmits vibration to perilymph of scala vestibuli
Conduction of sound through middle ear
• Ossicular conduction
• Air conduction – through air
• Bone conduction – through skull bones
Impedance matching
• Perilymph in the bony labyrinth offers resistance
to transmission of sound due to its inertia -
impedance
• Has to be overcome for passage of sound waves
to inner ear
• Done by ossicles
• Helps to transmit the sound vibrations from
tympanic membrane to inner ear with minimal
loss of intensity – impedance matching
• The surface area of tympanic membrane is
larger compared to footplate of stapes
• So a higher pressure is generated in the
smaller structure
• The stapes exerts a greater force on the
perilymph
• About 20 times greater than the force
generated by sound waves on tympanic
membrane
• Able to overcome the impedance of the
perilymph
Inner ear
• Movement of perilymph in the scala vestibuli
• Hits the vestibular membrane which is very thin
• So vibrations are transmitted to endolymph in
scala media
• Sets up vibrations in basilar membrane
• Vibrations through
perilymph in s. vestibuli
to sc. Tymp through
helicotrema
Vibrations from perilymph in
scala vestibuli to
endolymph in scala media
to Basilar membrane
• Vibration of hair cells of Organ of Corti
• Stimulates sensory fibres around the hair cells
• Conducted through auditory pathway
