cochlea
cochlea Part of the inner ear of mammals, birds, and some reptiles that transforms sound waves into nerve impulses. In mammals it is coiled, resembling a snail shell, and is divided by membranes into three parallel canals (see illustration): the middle cochlear duct (scala media) and two outer canals – the vestibular canal (scala vestibuli) and the tympanic canal (scala tympani) – formed from one long canal folded on itself at a bend at the apex of the cochlea. The small opening at this point, where the vestibular and tympanic canals communicate, is called the helicotrema. The cochlear duct is filled with a fluid (see endolymph) and contains the organ of Corti, which houses the sound receptors. The other two canals also contain a fluid (see perilymph). Sound-induced vibrations of the oval window are transmitted through the perilymph and endolymph and stimulate hair cells in the organ of Corti. These in turn stimulate nerve cells that transmit information, via the auditory nerve, to the brain for interpretation of the sounds.
cochlea
coch·le·a / ˈkōklēə; ˈkäk-/ • n. (pl. -le·ae / -lēˌē; -lēˌī/ ) the spiral cavity of the inner ear containing the organ of Corti, which produces nerve impulses in response to sound vibrations.DERIVATIVES: coch·le·ar adj.ORIGIN: mid 16th cent. (used to denote spiral objects such as a spiral staircase and an Archimedean screw): from Latin, ‘snail shell or screw,’ from Greek kokhlias. The current sense dates from the late 17th cent.
cochlea
cochlea
cochlea Part of the inner ear of some reptiles, birds, and mammals. It is concerned with the analysis of the pitch of received sound. In mammals other than Monotremata it is spirally coiled.
cochlea
cochlea spiral cavity of the internal ear. XVII. — L. coc(h)lea snail-shell, screw — Gr. kokhlías, prob. rel. to kógkhē CONCH.
More From encyclopedia.com
Echolocation (physiology) , Echolocation is the process of using sound waves to locate objects that may be invisible or at a distance. Some bats use sound to locate their insect… Sounding , sound·ing1 / ˈsounding/ • n. the action or process of measuring the depth of the sea or other body of water. ∎ a measurement taken by sounding. ∎ the… Acoustics , The area of physics known as acoustics is devoted to the study of the production, transmission, and reception of sound. Thus, wherever sound is produ… Hearing , Hearing is the sense that enables an organism to detect sound waves. It serves mainly to allow an animal to detect danger, to locate its prey, to com… sound barrier , sound barrier Name for the cause of an aircraft's difficulties in accelerating to a speed faster than that of sound. When approaching the speed of so… Phonetics , phonetics (fōnĕt´Ĭks, fə–), study of the sounds of languages from three basic points of view. Phonetics studies speech sounds according to their prod…
About this article
Cochlea
All Sources -
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
Cochlea