01:146:245 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Vestibular Duct, Basilar Membrane, Cochlear Duct

• School: Rutgers University
• Department: Cell Biology and Neuroscience
• Course: 01:146:245
• Professor: Professor Wilhelms

Document Summary

~the main thing is the cochlea, is where movement of oval window is transduced into neural activity. ~cochlea amplifies sound, transduces it, breaks down complex waves into smaller elements. ~the tube is bisected by the cochlear partition almost all the way through. ~cochlear partition has the tectorial membrane and basilar membrane. ~there"s actually two walls in the cochlea, divides it into three sections of the tube: ~fluid is continuous between scala vestibuli and scala tympani. ~inward movement of oval window displaces fluid of cochlea, causes round window to bulge. ~this conserves the wave properties of sound since the wave is carried in fluid. ~the key is that basilar membrane is flexible, vibrates in response to sound. ~outer + inner hair cells = sensory cells of ear. ~hair cells are in organ of corti, in the scala media, on top of the basilar membrane.