Q8. Explain the following:
(a) The Mechanism through which a sound produces a nerve impulse in the inner ear.
1) The external ear pinna collects the sound waves.
2) They then enter the external auditory canal. Here, the tympanic membrane vibrates because of these sound waves.
3) Now, the eardrum vibrates these sound waves and transports them to the middle ear. Here, their intensity increases by the ear ossicles.
4) These vibrating sound waves then travel through the oval window and reach the fluid in the cochlea. Consequently, a movement is generated in the lymph.
5) Movement from the lymph causes vibrations in the basilar membrane, stimulating the sensory hair organ, the auditory hair cells.
6) These cells then give out a nerve impulse to the brain's auditory cortex via its afferent fibres. Here, the impulse is interpreted and the sound is recognized.