Middle ear: Eardrum - Ossicles (Malleus, Incus & Stapes) - Stapedius - Tensor tympani - Eustachian tube (Torus tubarius) eMedicine is an online clinical medical knowledge base that was founded in 1996. ... This article or section may be confusing for some readers, and should be edited to be clearer or more simplified. ... The auditory system is the sensory system for the sense of hearing. ... The outer ear is the external portion of the ear and includes the eardrum. ... Juzzah is a loser Boom, Headshot Bergamin and Gerald died The pinna (Latin for feather) is the visible part of the ear that resides outside of the head. ... A left human ear. ... On the pinna, a curved prominence of cartilage, parallel with and in front of the helix, is called the antihelix, also known as the anthelix; this divides above into two crura, between which is a triangular depression, the fossa triangularis. ... In front of the concha, and projecting backward over the meatus, is a small pointed eminence, the tragus, so called from its being generally covered on its under surface with a tuft of hair, resembling a goat’s beard. ... Opposite the tragus, and separated from it by the intertragic notch, is a small tubercle, the antitragus. ... On the ear of humans and many other animals, the earlobe (lobulus auriculæ, sometimes simply lobe or lobule) is the soft lower part of the external ear or pinna. ... Anatomy of the human ear. ... The middle ear is the portion of the ear internal to the eardrum, and external to the oval window of the cochlea. ... The tympanic membrane, colloquially known as the eardrum, is a thin membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear. ... The ossicles (also called auditory ossicles) are the three smallest bones in the human body. ... The malleus is hammer-shaped small bone or ossicle of the middle ear which connects with the incus and is attached to the inner surface of the eardrum. ... This article refers to a bone in the mammalian ear. ... The stapes or stirrup is the stirrup-shaped small bone or ossicle in the middle ear which attaches the incus to the fenestra ovalis, the oval window which is adjacent to the vestibule of the inner ear. ... The stapedius is the smallest striated muscle in the human body. ... The tensor tympani muscle arises from the auditory tube and inserts onto the handle of the malleus, damping down vibration in the ossicles and so reducing the amplitude of sounds. ... Anatomy of the human ear. ...

Inner ear/Labyrinth: Bony labyrinth - Membranous labyrinth - Cochlea (Cochlear duct, Scala vestibuli, Scala media & Scala tympani) - Oval window - Helicotrema - Round window - Basilar membrane - Reissner's membrane - Organ of Corti - Hair cells - Stereocilia - Sulcus spiralis externus - Sulcus spiralis internus - Tectorial membrane - Vestibule The inner ear comprises both: the organ of hearing (the cochlea) and the labyrinth or vestibular apparatus, the organ of balance located in the inner ear that consists of three semicircular canals and the vestibule. ... See also Labyrinth, an article treating the mythical maze that imprisoned the Minotaur. ... The bony labyrinth (osseous labyrinth) consists of three parts: vestibule semicircular canals cochlea These are cavities hollowed out of the substance of the bone, and lined by periosteum; they contain a clear fluid, the perilymph, in which the membranous labyrinth is situated. ... The cochlea is the auditory branch of the inner ear. ... Scala vestibuli is a perilymph filled cavity inside the cochlea of the inner ear. ... Scala media is a endolymph filled cavity inside the cochlea, located in between the scala tympani and the scala vestibuli, separated by the basilar membrane and Reissners membrane(the vestibular membrane) respectively. ... Scala tympani is the name of one of the perilymph filled cavities in the cochlear labyrinth. ... The helicotrema is the part of the cochlear labyrinth where the scala tympani and the scala vestibuli meet. ... The round window is one of two membranes that separates the inner ear from the middle ear. ... Cross section of the cochlea. ... Reissners membrane is a membrane inside the cochlea of the inner ear, it separates scala media from scala vestbuli and together with the basilar membrane it creates a compartment in the cochlea filled with perilymph, which is important for the function of the organ of Corti inside the scala... The organ of Corti is the organ in the inner ear of mammals that contains auditory sensory cells, or hair cells. // Structure and function It has highly specialized structures that respond to fluid-borne vibrations in the cochlea with a shearing vector in the hairs of some cochlear hair cells. ... Hair cells are the sensory cells of both the auditory system and the vestibular system in all vertebrates. ... Section through the spiral organ of Corti. ...

Brain: Cochlear nerve ^VIII → Cochlear nuclei → Superior olivary nuclei → Lateral lemniscus → Inferior colliculi → Medial geniculate nuclei → Primary auditory cortex A sketch of the human brain by artist Priyan Weerappuli, imposed upon his sketch of the profile of Michaelangelos David In animals, the brain, or encephalon (Greek for in the head), is the control center of the central nervous system. ... The Cochlear nerve (n. ... The vestibulocochlear nerve (also known as the auditory or acoustic nerve) is the eighth of twelve cranial nerves, and is responsible for transmitting sound and equilibrium (balance) information from the inner ear to the brain. ... The cochlear nuclei consist of: (a) the lateral cochlear nucleus, corresponding to the tuberculum acusticum on the dorso-lateral surface of the inferior peduncle; and (b) the ventral or accessory cochlear nucleus, placed between the two divisions of the nerve, on the ventral aspect of the inferior peduncle. ... // Anatomy The superior olivary nucleus (or superior olive) is a small mass of gray substance situated on the dorsal surface of the lateral part of the trapezoid body. ... The lateral lemniscus is a tract of axons in the brainstem that carries information about sound to the inferior colliculus of the midbrain. ... The paired inferior colliculi together with the superior colliculi form the eminences of the corpora quadrigemina. ... The medial geniculate nucleus is a nucleus of the thalamus that acts as a relay for auditory information. ... The primary auditory cortex is the region of the brain that is responsible for processing of auditory (sound) information. ...