page_title: Inner ear
section_title: Diagram
hierarchical_section_title: Inner ear / Additional images / Diagram
caption_attribution_description: Right human membranous labyrinth, removed from its bony enclosure and viewed from the antero-lateral aspect. (G. Retzius.)
context_page_description: The inner ear is the innermost part of the vertebrate ear. In vertebrates, the inner ear is mainly responsible for sound detection and balance. In mammals, it consists of the bony labyrinth, a hollow cavity in the temporal bone of the skull with a system of passages comprising two main functional parts:
  The cochlea, dedicated to hearing; converting sound pressure patterns from the outer ear into electrochemical impulses which are passed on to the brain via the auditory nerve.
  The vestibular system, dedicated to balance
  The inner ear is found in all vertebrates, with substantial variations in form and function. The inner ear is innervated by the eighth cranial nerve in all vertebrates.
caption: Right human membranous labyrinth, removed from its bony enclosure and viewed from the antero-lateral aspect. Top image is antero-lateral and bottom image is postero-medial. # Lateral semicircular canal; 1’, its ampulla # Posterior canal; 2’, its ampulla # Superior canal; 3’, its ampulla # Conjoined limb of superior and posterior canals (sinus utriculi superior) # Utricle; 5’. Recessus utriculi; 5”. Sinus utriculi posterior # Ductus endolymphaticus # Canalis utriculosaccularis # Nerve to ampulla of superior canal # Nerve to ampulla of lateral canal # Nerve to recessus utriculi (in top image, the three branches appear conjoined); 10’. Ending of nerve in recessus utriculi # Facial nerve # Lagena cochleæ # Nerve of cochlea within spiral lamina # Basilar membrane # Nerve fibers to macula of saccule # Nerve to ampulla of posterior canal # Saccule # Secondary membrane of tympanum # Canalis reuniens # Vestibular end of ductus cochlearis # Section of the facial and acoustic nerves within internal acoustic meatus (the separation between them is not apparent in the section) # (No entry) # Vestibulocochlear nerve (auditory or acoustic, cranial nerve VIII)
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