Auditory system

The auditory system is the sensory system for the sense for hearing. The sense organ for hearing is the ear.

 Structure of the ear

 Outer ear 
The outer ear is the folds of cartilage surrounding the ear canal. They are called the pinna. 

 Middle ear 
Sound waves travelling through the ear canal will hit the tympanum, or eardrum.  Three tiny bones, the ossicles, convert the waves to high pressure vibrations.  They are then converted to nerve impulses in the cochlea.

 Inner ear 
The inner ear is made mostly of the cochlea.  The cochlea is made up of three pieces, and is filled with liquid. It transforms sound waves to electric signals in neurons. The semicircular canals of the inner ear are used in equilibrioception, the sense of balance.

 Related pages 

 Visual system and Eyes
 Vertigo
 Balance

 Other websites 
 Promenade 'round the cochlea 
 Washington University Neuroscience Tutorial - Auditory system 

Category:Hearing