Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain - Chapter 11 Key Terms Flashcards

Chapter 11 Key Terms and Definitions

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