Ear drawing

The path of sound in the ear. Representation of the path of sound in the ear. The sound wave picked up by the pinna of the ear penetrates the auditory canal, vibrates the eardrum which vibrates the ossicles (hammer, anvil, stirrup). The vibrations of the stapes vibrate the membrane of the oval window which generates hydraulic waves in the perilymph of the cochlea, which exerts pressures of the endolymph inside the cochlear canal, displacing the basilar membrane, dragging the cells cilia that move against the tectorial membrane producing nerve impulses in the cochlear nerve fibers. This nerve impulse travels through the auditory nerve, then from neuron to neuron via the spinal cord to the auditory area of the brain which analyzes the data.