Chapter 11 Key Terms and Definitions
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| 856497874 | audition | The sense of hearing | 0 | |
| 856497875 | vestibular system | The neural system that monitors and regulates the sense of balance and equilibrium | 1 | |
| 856497876 | frequency | The number of sound waves or other discrete events per second, expressed in hertz (Hz) | 2 | |
| 856497877 | hertz (Hz) | The unit of sound frequency equivalent to cycles per second | 3 | |
| 856497878 | intensity | The amplitude of a sound wave. Sound intensity is the amplitude of the pressure differences in a sound wave that perceptually determines loudness | 4 | |
| 856497879 | pinna | The funnel-shaped outer ear, consisting of cartilage covered by skin | 5 | |
| 856497880 | auditory canal | A channel leading from the pinna to the tympanic membrane; the entrance to the inner ear | 6 | |
| 856497881 | tympanic membrane | A membrane at the internal end of the auditory canal that moves in response to variations in air pressure; also called eardrum | 7 | |
| 856497882 | ossicle | One of the three small bones in the middle ear | 8 | |
| 856497883 | oval window | A hole in the bony cochlea of the inner ear, where movement of the ossicles is transferred to movement of the fluids in the cochlea | 9 | |
| 856497884 | cochlea | A spiral bony structure in the inner ear that contains the hair cells that transduce sound | 10 | |
| 856497885 | outer ear | The pinna plus the auditory canal | 11 | |
| 856497886 | middle ear | The tympanic membrane plus the ossicles | 12 | |
| 856497887 | inner ear | The cochlea, which is part of the auditory system, plus the labyrinth, which is part of the vestibular system | 13 | |
| 856497888 | medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) | A relay nucleus in the thalamus through which all auditory information passes on its ways from the inferior colliculus to the auditory cortex | 14 | |
| 856497889 | primary auditory cortex (A1) | Brodmann's area 41, on the superior surface of the temporal lobe; also called A1 | 15 | |
| 856497890 | malleus | An ossicle in the middle ear attached to the tympanic membrane; shaped somewhat like a hammer | 16 | |
| 856497891 | incus | An ossicle in the middle ear whose shape somewhat resembles an anvil | 17 | |
| 856497892 | stapes | An ossicle in the middle ear attached to the oval window that somewhat resembles a stirrup | 18 | |
| 856497893 | Eustachian tube | An air-filled tube connecting the middle ear to the nasal cavities | 19 | |
| 856497894 | attenuation reflex | The contraction of muscles in the middle ear, resulting in a reduction in auditory sensitivity | 20 | |
| 856497895 | round window | A membrane-covered hole in the bony cochlea of the inner ear that is continuous with the scala tympani in the cochlea | 21 | |
| 856497896 | scala vestibuli | A chamber in the cochlea that runs from the oval window to the helicotrema | 22 | |
| 856497897 | scala media | A chamber in the cochlea that lies between the scala vestibuli and the scala tympani | 23 | |
| 856497898 | scala tympani | A chamber in the cochlea that runs from the helicotrema to the round window | 24 | |
| 856497899 | Reissner's membrane | The cochlear membrane in the inner ear that separates the scala vestibuli from the scala media | 25 | |
| 856497900 | basilar membrane | A membrane separating the scala tympani and scala media in the cochlea in the inner ear | 26 | |
| 856497901 | organ of Corti | An auditory receptor organ that contains hair cells, rods of Corti and supporting cells | 27 | |
| 856497902 | tectorial membrane | A sheet of tissue that hangs over the organ of Corti in the cochlea in the inner ear | 28 | |
| 856497903 | helicotrema | A hole at the apex of the cochlea in the inner ear that connect the scala tympani to the scala vesitbuli | 29 | |
| 856497904 | perilymph | The fluid that fills the scala vestibuli and scala tympani in the cochlea in the inner ear, containing low K+ concentrations and high Na+ concentrations | 30 | |
| 856497905 | endolymph | The fluid that fills the scala media in the cochlea of the inner ear, containing high K+ concentrations and low Na+ concentrations | 31 | |
| 856497906 | hair cell | An auditory cell that transduces sound into a change in membrane potential, or a vestibular cell that transduces head movements into a change in membrane potentials | 32 | |
| 856497907 | stereocilium | A hairlike cilium attached to the top of a hair cell in the inner ear | 33 | |
| 856497908 | reticular lamina | A thin sheet of tissue in the inner ear that holds the tops of hair cells in the organ of Corti | 34 | |
| 856497909 | inner hair cell | An auditory cell located between the modiolus and the rods of Corti; the primary transducer of sound into an electrochemical signal | 35 | |
| 856497910 | outer hair cell | An auditory receptor cell located farther from the modiolus than the rods of Corti in the inner ear | 36 | |
| 856497911 | spiral ganglion | A collection of neurons in the modiolus of the cochlea that receives input from hair cells and sends output to the cochlear nuclei in the medulla via the auditory nerve | 37 | |
| 856497912 | auditory-vestibular nerve | Cranial nerve VIII, consisting of axons projecting from the spiral ganglion to the cochlear nuclei | 38 | |
| 856497913 | cochlear amplifier | Outer hair cells, including the motor proteins in the outer hair cell membrane, that amplify displacements of the basilar membrane in the cochlea | 39 | |
| 856497914 | dorsal cochlear nucleus | A nucleus in the medulla that receives afferents from the spiral ganglion in the cochlea of the inner ear (dorsal) | 40 | |
| 856497915 | ventral cochlear nucleus | A nucleus in the medulla that receives afferents from the spiral ganglion in the cochlea of the inner ear (ventral) | 41 | |
| 856497916 | superior olive | A nucleus in the caudate pons that receives afferents from the cochlear nuclei and sends efferents to the inferior colliculus; also called superior olivary nucleus | 42 | |
| 856497917 | inferior colliculus | A nucleus in the midbrain from which all ascending auditory signals project to the medial geniculate nucleus | 43 | |
| 856497918 | characteristic frequency | The sound frequency to which a neuron in the auditory system gives its greatest response | 44 | |
| 856497919 | tonotopy | The systematic organization within an auditory structure on the basis of characteristic frequency | 45 | |
| 856497920 | phase locking | The consist firing of an auditory neuron at the same phase of a sound wave | 46 | |
| 856497921 | volley principle | The idea that high sound frequencies are represented in the pooled activity of a number of neurons, each of which fires in a phase-locked manner | 47 | |
| 856497922 | duplex theory of sound localization | The principle that two schemes function in sound localization" interaural time delay at low frequencies and interaural intensity differences at high frequencies | 48 | |
| 856497923 | vestibular labyrinth | A part of the inner ear specialized for the detection of head motion; consists of the otolith organs and semicircular canals | 49 | |
| 856497924 | otolith organ | The utricle or the saccule, organs of the vestibular labyrinth in the inner ear that transduce head tilt and acceleration | 50 | |
| 856497925 | semicircular canals | A component of the vestibular labyrinth in the inner ear that transduces head rotation | 51 | |
| 856497926 | macula | In the ear, a sensory epithelium in the otolith organs whose hair cells transduce head tilt and acceleration | 52 | |
| 856497927 | ampulla | The bulge along a semicircular canal, which contains the hair cells that transduce rotation | 53 | |
| 856497928 | vestibular nucleus | A nucleus in the medulla that receives input from the vestibular labyrinth of the inner ear | 54 | |
| 856497929 | vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) | A reflexive movement of the eyes stimulated by rotational movement of the head; stabilizes the visual image on the retinas | 55 |
