The Sense of Hearing essays

The Sense of Hearing essays Sound is a longitudinal pressure wave of audible sound. It is a series of sound pressure waves that moves through air or other materials. These sound waves are created by the vibration of some object. The waves resolve what we hear based on pitch, amplitude, and timbre. The ear is a vital part of the human bodys sensory system. The sense of hearing has two parts, the behavior of the anatomical apparatus and the neurological processing of the information acquired. The purpose of the human ear is to convert sound waves into nerve impulses. The nerve impulses are then perceived and interpreted by the brain as sound. The ear is comprised of three basic parts, including the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. Each part of the ear serves a specific purpose in the assignment of detecting and interpreting sound. The outer ear serves to collect and channel sound to the middle ear. It consists of two separate parts, both the pinna and the meatus. The pinna, the ear flap, is the first components and assists the sound waves to enter the ear. The second part, the meatus, is the ear canal, progresses the sound waves to the middle ear. The middle ear then transforms the energy of a sound wave into the internal vibrations of the bone structure of the middle ear. The middle ear is a hollow area that consists of three small bones, the hammer, anvil, and the stirrup. Ultimately the internal vibrations are transformed into a compression wave in t he inner ear. The inner ear serves to transform the energy of a compression wave within the inner ear fluid into nerve impulses that can be transmitted to the brain. The inner ear is comprised of three separate parts, the cochlea, semicircular canals, and the auditory nerve. The cochlea is a spiral tube, separated into two parts by the basilar membrane, which contains hair-like nerve cells. These cells respond to the mechanical energy created by the middle ear, leading to the generation of e...