Auditory system

The auricle or auricula is the visible part of the ear that resides outside of the head.

Hearing, auditory perception, or audition is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations, changes in the pressure of the surrounding medium through time, through an organ such as the ear.

The ear canal (external acoustic meatus, external auditory meatus, EAM) (Latin: meatus acusticus externus), is a tube running from the outer ear to the middle ear.

The cochlea /ˈkɒk.

The malleus /ˈmæliəs/ or hammer is a 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.

The anvil or incus /ˈɪŋkəs/ is a bone in the middle ear.

Hair cells are the sensory receptors of both the auditory system and the vestibular system in the ears of all vertebrates.

The vestibular membrane, vestibular wall or Reissner's membrane, is a membrane inside the cochlea of the inner ear.

In human anatomy, the eardrum, or tympanic membrane, is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear in humans and other tetrapods.

The metathalamus is a composite structure of the thalamus, consisting of the medial geniculate nucleus and the lateral geniculate nucleus.

The inner ear (internal ear, auris interna) is the innermost part of the vertebrate ear.

The auditory system is the sensory system for the sense of hearing.

The organ of Corti, or spiral organ, is the receptor organ for hearing and is located in the mammalian cochlea.

The stapes /ˈsteɪpiːz/ or stirrup is a bone in the middle ear of humans and other mammals which is involved in the conduction of sound vibrations to the inner ear.

The middle ear is the portion of the ear internal to the eardrum, and external to the oval window of the inner ear.

An otolith (οτο-, oto-, ear + λιθος, lithos, a stone), also called statoconium or otoconium or statolith, is a structure in the saccule or utricle of the inner ear, specifically in the vestibular labyrinth of vertebrates.

The outer ear is the external portion of the ear, which consists of the auricle (also pinna) and the ear canal.

The word cochlea /ˈkɒklɪə/ is Latin for “snail, shell or screw” and originates from the Greek word kohlias.

A kinocilium is a special type of cilium on the apex of hair cells located in the sensory epithelium of the vertebrate inner ear.

The membranous labyrinth is a collection of fluid filled tubes and chambers which contain the receptors for the senses of equilibrium and hearing.

The inferior colliculus (IC) (Latin, lower hill) is the principal midbrain nucleus of the auditory pathway and receives input from several peripheral brainstem nuclei in the auditory pathway, as well as inputs from the auditory cortex.

The cochlear nuclear (CN) complex comprises two cranial nerve nuclei in the human brainstem, the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN) and the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN).

Autophony or tympanophony is the unusually loud hearing of a person's own voice.

In human anatomy, the Pars flaccida of tympanic membrane or Shrapnell's membrane (also known as Rivinus’ ligament) is the small, triangular, flaccid portion of the tympanic membrane, or eardrum.

The primary auditory cortex is the part of the temporal lobe that processes auditory information in humans and other vertebrates.

The secondary tympanic membrane (or round window membrane) covers the round window, sealing off one of two openings into the inner ear.

The basilar crest lies within the cochlear duct in the inner ear.

Winding around the inferior cerebellar peduncle in the lower part of the fourth ventricle, and crossing the area acustica and the medial eminence are a number of white strands, the medullary striae, which form a portion of the cochlear division of the vestibulocochlear nerve and disappear into the median sulcus.

The basilar membrane within the cochlea of the inner ear is a stiff structural element that separates two liquid-filled tubes that run along the coil of the cochlea, the scala media and the scala tympani (see figure).

The acoustic reflex (also known as the stapedius reflex, middle-ear-muscles (MEM) reflex, attenuation reflex, or auditory reflex) is an involuntary muscle contraction that occurs in the middle ear in response to high-intensity sound stimuli or when the person starts to vocalize.

The oval window (or fenestra vestibuli) is a membrane-covered opening that leads from the middle ear to the vestibule of the inner ear.

The round window is one of the two openings from the middle ear into the inner ear.

The pyramidal eminence (pyramid) is situated immediately behind the fenestra vestibuli, and in front of the vertical portion of the facial canal; it is hollow, and contains the Stapedius muscle; its summit projects forward toward the fenestra vestibuli, and is pierced by a small aperture which transmits the tendon of the muscle.

In the inner ear, stereocilia are the mechanosensing organelles of hair cells, which respond to fluid motion in numerous types of animals for various functions, including hearing and balance.

The cochlear nerve (also auditory or acoustic nerve) is one of two parts of the vestibulocochlear nerve, a cranial nerve present in amniotes.

The medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) or medial geniculate body (MGB) is part of the auditory thalamus and represents the thalamic relay between the inferior colliculus (IC) and the auditory cortex (AC).

The ossicles (also called auditory ossicles) are three bones in either middle ear that are among the smallest bones in the human body.

The cochlear duct (or scala media) is an endolymph filled cavity inside the cochlea, located in between the tympanic duct and the vestibular duct, separated by the basilar membrane and Reissner's membrane (the vestibular membrane) respectively.

Patulous Eustachian tube, also known as patent Eustachian tube, is the name of a physical disorder where the Eustachian tube, which is normally closed, instead stays intermittently open.

The spiral (cochlear) ganglion is the group of nerve cells that serve the sense of hearing by sending a representation of sound from the cochlea to the brain.

The tympanic duct or scala tympani is one of the perilymph-filled cavities in the inner ear of the human.

The cochlear cupula is a structure in the cochlea.

The antihelix (anthelix) is a part of the visible ear; the pinna.

The caroticotympanic nerves are nerves which supply the eardrum ("tympanum") and carotid canal.

The crista ampullaris is the sensory organ of rotation located in the semicircular canal of the inner ear.

The basilar membrane stretches from the tympanic lip of the osseous spiral lamina to the basilar crest and consists of two parts, an inner and an outer.

The vestibular duct or scala vestibuli is a perilymph-filled cavity inside the cochlea of the inner ear that conducts sound vibrations to the cochlear duct.