Ear drawing
The path of sound in the ear. Representation of the path of sound in the ear. The sound wave in the outer ear (in orange) captured by the pinna of the ear enters the auditory canal, vibrates the eardrum which isolates the outer ear from the inner ear, and vibrates in the middle ear (in blue) the ossicles (hammer, anvil, stirrup). The vibrations of the stapes vibrate in the inner ear (in pink) 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, causing the hair cells to 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.