Review
Basic and clinical physiology of the inner ear receptors and their neural pathways in the brain
H Sohmer et al. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol. 2000.
Abstract
The six receptors of the inner ear (cochlea, two otolith organs and three semicircular canals) share a common transduction unit made up of a sensory hair cell, a first order sensory neuron and the synapse between them. Displacement of the stereocilia in a particular direction leads to excitation of the hair cell and activation of the neuron. Electrical and mechanical reflections of these stages of transduction can be recorded non-invasively in humans and in animals. These include cochlear microphonic potentials, otoacoustic emissions, auditory and vestibular evoked potentials. The ability to record these activities can be used to track the development of inner ear function in the fetus and neonate and to study the effects of various ototoxic agents (e.g. noise) and drugs.
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Have a better understanding of the complexity of the inner ear
General physiology
Anatomy of the inner ear
The inner ear contains the sensory organs responsible for hearing and balance. The cochlea is a snail-shaped, bony structure that propagates sound in the inner ear, while the vestibule or labyrinth contributes to balance.
The cochlea
How does the cochlea work ?
The cochlea is filled with two fluids (endolymph and perilymph), inside the cochlea is the sensory receptor — the Organ of Corti — which contains sensory cells with hair-like structures (hair cells) that are the nerve receptors for hearing.
The bones of the middle ear transform sound into a force that pushes on a membrane (the oval window) in the cochlea, moving the fluid in the cochlea, stimulating the sensory hair cells. Signals from hair cells are transmitted via the auditory nerve as neural impulses to the mid-brain, or the cochlear nucleus, and from there to the hearing region of the brain (auditory cortex).
The vestibule
How does the vestibule work ?
The vestibule uses the same kind of fluids and detection cells (hair cells) as the cochlea, but to detect motion and orientation. The type of motion detected by a hair cell depends on the structures associated with it (e.g. the semicircular canal or the crystalline otolith of the saccule and utricle). The brain receives, interprets, and processes the signals to create the sensation of balance.