the hearing process - part 2
The movements of the
footplate of the stapes in the oval window produce waves in the cochlear
fluid. The cochlear fluid pushes against the basilar membrane which causes it
to move. The hair cells of the organ on the basilar membrane slide against
the overhanging membrane. The hairs bend and by doing this, it creates
impulses in the cochlear nerve fibers attached to the hairs. The cochlear
nerve transmits the impulses to the temporal lobe, the hearing center of your
brain. The brain then interprets the impulses as sounds. Different frequency
sounds affect the hair cells along the membrane which causes different
impulses. Intensity of a sound determines how many hair cells are affected
and how many impulses the cochlear nerve sends to the brain. For example,
loud sounds move a large number of hair cells, and the cochlear nerve
transmits many impulses.
