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How Hearing Works |
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The sense of natural hearing is a very fine-tuned and intricate
process. Your ears are remarkable organs that pick up sounds
around you and then translate information into a form your brain can
understand. To hear naturally, the whole sound sensing system
must work properly. If a part of the outer, middle, or inner
ear is damaged or missing, a person can have hearing loss. |
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The ear is divided into 3 parts:
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The Outer
Ear
- The
external portion of the ear that gathers sounds and sends it
to the middle ear.
What we commonly call the ear is also known as the pinna or
auricle. The outer ear helps establish the direction
sound is coming from and funnels it into the ear canal.
The outer ear also includes the eardrum, the thin tympanic
membrane. The eardrum translates sounds into
vibrations and transmits them to the middle ear.
- The Middle Ear
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The primary function is to
efficiently transfer acoustic energy from compression waves
in the air to fluid-membrane waves within the cochlea. The
middle ear contains the three smallest bones in the human
body: the stapes, malleus, and incus. Set in motion by
the eardrum, their coordinated movements transmit the
environments wide range of sound to the inner ear.
- The Inner Ear
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Provides the framework for the transmission of the
stimulation of nerve impulses from the outer ear to the
brain. Each ear has a small, snail shaped, fluid-filled
structure called the cochlea. The cochlea contains about
20,000 hair cells that are responsible for translating sound
vibrations into electrical impulses. The electrical
impulses travel along the auditory nerve system to the
brain, which determines what the sound is.
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Related Links to Understanding
Hearing |
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