The Ear and Hearing Loss
The ear is the organ of hearing and balance in vertebrates. The ear converts sound waves in the air, to nerve impulses which are sent to the brain, where the brain interprets them as sounds instead of vibrations. The innermost part of the ear maintains equilibrium or balance. The vestibular apparatus contains semicircular canals which in turn balance you. Any movement by the head, and this apparatus sends a signal to the brain so that your reflex action is to move your foot to balance you.
The ear in humans consist three parts: The outer, the middle, and the inner portions. The outer ear, or pinna, is the structure that we call the ear.
It is the skin covered flap of elastic
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In conductive hearing loss, sound intensity is reduced, but sound isn't distorted.
Sensorineural hearing loss is more resistant to therapy because it involves damage to the delicate sensory cells of the organ of Corti, which is located in the cochlea. Sensorineural hearing loss has to do with both distortion of sound and loss of sound intensity. The closer the damaged tissue is to the auditory cortex, the more complex and subtle are the types of distortions. The hair cells of the organ of Corti cannot grow once they are damaged. Sensorineural hearing loss is rarely reversible.
The hearing losses caused by salicylates such as asprin and the early stages of Meniere's Disease are reversible, however. The latter condition is characterized by an imbalance of fluid pressures within the inner ear. If this imbalance is correct soon enough, before hair cell destruction has occurred, hearing will return to its normal level. Sensorineural hearing loss is often accompanied by ear noise, or tinnitus, which is a high-pitched ringing heard only by the patient. Because the inner ear has no pain fibers, damage is not accompanied by pain.
Hearing loss is usually measured by an instrument called an audiometer which measures the weakest intensity at which a person can hear at most frequencies in the range of human hearing. The instrument is calibrated against the lowest intensity heard by
send this information to the central nervous system. The motor neurons in turn carry processed
Anyone of any age who has highly impaired hearing loss or suffers from being deaf could have a cochlear implant. Damage to the inner ear, Aging, prolonged exposure to loud noise and diseases such as rubella (German measles) or mumps may cause wear and tear on the hairs or nerve cells in the cochlea that send sound signals to the brain. When
1. Neurons is a basic building block of the nervous system. The sensory nerves carry the message from body tissues to the brain and spinal chord to be processed. The motor neurons are then used to send instructions to the body tissue from the brain and spinal cord. Dendrites, which are connected to the body cell (soma) receive information and pass it through the axon. Myelin sheath covers the axon and helps speed the process. When triggered by a signals from our senses or other neurons, the neuron fires an impulse called the action potential. The resting potential is the neuron’s visual charge of positive
When a person with normal hearing hears the sound travels along the ear then bounces against the ear drum. The eardrum, the bones inside, and the cochlea vibrate and move thousands of tiny hairs inside the ear. When these hairs move an electrical response occurs. This electrical response goes to the hearing nerve and then it is send to the brain.
functions by using electrical impulses to stimulate motor neuron in our muscle to elicit and
Everything we do is a product of neural communication, whether that be reacting to senses or feeling emotions, it is all due to us having neural communication through millions of neurons passing small electrical signals throughout the body through such pathways as the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system and passing information to and from the brain. These ‘’neurons’’ are made up of Dendrites which are connected to a cell body, or also known as the soma, these are tree-like feathery filament ‘’message receivers’’ that collect these messages from other neurons it is connected to, neurons are connected through a dendrite to axon terminal connections and pass these ‘’messages’’ through the body as action potentials.
Our human brains have about 100 billion neurons. These neurons react to physical and chemical changes in their surroundings. These cells specialize in sending and receiving neural messages. These neurons make connection with other neurons and send signals all over our bodies. Typically every neuron has a cell body, dendrites and an axon. Neuron’s body cell is like many other cells in body comprising of cytoplasm, nucleus, mitochondria, lysosomes, Golgi apparatus and many microtubules. These organelles enable to cell to perform its function. The axon portion of the neuron is responsible for carrying information to other neurons. The dendrite portion of the neuron is responsible for receiving the signals from the other neurons. Although neuron may have many dendrites, they typically have only one axon. All neurons are electrically excitable, maintaining voltage gradients across their membranes by means of metabolically driven ion pumps, which combine with ion channels embedded in the membrane to generate intracellular-versus-extracellular concentration differences of ions such as sodium, potassium, chloride, and calcium. Changes in the cross-membrane voltage can
If you don't protect you hearing your cells will disintegrate and they do not grow back nor heal.
More than 250 million people in the world are born deaf, the hearing loss is generally caused by damage to sensory receptors (hair cells) and nerves associated with them (5). The basic function of hair cells (cells Mkanvsnsvry) within the cochlea of the inner ear, with that mechanical vibrations of sound into electrical signals, then these messages reach the brain through the auditory nerve. When the hair cells are damaged, a person with hearing loss or deafness. It may also fix the cause, these cells have been rebuilt and to continue their activities. But in most cases this is not possible and will be a permanent hearing
The ear is made up of three areas: the outer, middle, and inner ear. The outer ear is very important for collecting sound waves. It is made up of the pinna and the ear canal. The pinna, the actual physical outward appearance of the ear, receives sound waves and begins to funnel them into the ear canal.
Neurons carry impulses from one place to another around the nervous system. They connect receptors to the central nervous system, and connect one part of the nervous system to another, for example in the brain and spinal cord. They also carry impulses from the nervous system to effector organs, such as muscles and glands. When neurons are stimulated they transmit an electrical impulse. The brain sends messages through the spinal cord to peripheral nerves throughout the body to control the muscles and organs. The spinal cord is responsible for two functions within the nervous system. It connects a large part of the peripheral nervous system to the brain. Information reaching the spinal cord through sensory neurons are transmitted up into the
You might believe that the ears are the most essential item needed for hearing. For humans, that maybe partially true. The ears are specifically de sighed to receive sound vibrations that are emitted. They have a funnel-like shape that is perfect for collecting all of the sounds but, sometimes, there are too many that's why it is so hard to listen to two people talking to you at
The Outer Ear has many structures that help to guide sound waves into the External Auditory Canal. The concha is the deepest groove and funnels the sound wave down the “s” shaped ear canal. Sam was fascinated at how the Outer Ear was shaped in order to localize sounds and push them down to the External Acoustic Canal. As acoustic energy, Sam traveled down the canal observing all the earwax trapping foreign objects like bugs and dirt. He immediately noticed how his sound seemed louder as the External Acoustic Canal enhances sounds. The External Auditory Canal is a ¼ wavelength resonator. It is a tube open at one end, the opening to the external auditory canal, and closed at the other, the tympanic membrane. This resonator has the ability to boost sounds at a frequency of nearly 2800 Hz. This resonance feature increases pressure to help transform acoustic energy into mechanical energy. Disgusted by the buildup of earwax, Sam was relieved when he reached the osseous portion at the end of the External Auditory Canal, which was just a thin layer of skin. No hair or wax to be found. Sam was amazed at the monstrous Tympanic Membrane that
Hearing loss is the most common physical disability in the whole wide world. In the United States alone, about 28 million people have some level of hearing impairment that interferes with their ability to understand normal speech and participate in conversations. Another 2 million cannot hear at all.
This was the case because headphones of the past were only used in the business industry as a way of communication. However, before one can derive whether a particular design is prone to cause more damage than the other, one must first understand the ear and the process of hearing.