Identify the four sections of the ear and discuss how each functions.

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Ans: The ear is divided into four connected sections: the outer ear (auricle), the middle ear, the inner ear, and the central auditory nervous system. The outer ear functions to protect the middle ear, direct sound into the ear canal, and enhance sound localization. In addition, the outer ear serves to enhance the intensity of sounds in the midfrequency range where the sound spectrum of speech is located. Sound waves enter the outer ear and travel through the ear canal to the tympanic membrane (eardrum) causing a vibrating action. The tympanic membrane is attached to one of the three smallest bones in the body, the malleus (hammer) through which the sound vibrations are transmitted to the second and third of the smallest bones, the incus (anvil) and the stapes (stirrup). These three bone structures form the ossicular chain, a bridge of bones across which sound vibrations travel to the inner ear. Together with the tympanic membrane, the ossicles convert airborne sound waves into mechanical energy and transfer this to the inner ear. The footplate of the stapes fits into the oval window, an opening into the inner ear. The vibratory motion of the stapes footplate in the oval window transmits mechanical energy to fluid-filled channels within the snail-like structure of the cochlea. The cochlea houses the end organ of hearing, called the organ of Corti. Waves set up in the cochlear fluid, the result of vibratory energy from the tympanic membrane and ossicular chain, stimulate nearly 20,000 tiny hair cells in the organ of Corti arrayed along the length of the cochlea. The mechanical energy is transformed into electrical nerve impulses. The hair cells near the oval window respond to high-frequency energy, and those in the middle and at the apex of the cochlea respond to low-frequency energy. The resultant nerve impulses course through the auditory nervous system pathways to the auditory cortex, located in the temporal lobe of the brain, for message decoding.

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