Physiology 3120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Visual Cortex, Basilar Membrane, Sound Localization

• School: Western University
• Department: Physiology
• Course: Physiology 3120
• Professor: Tom Stavraky

Document Summary

Cochlea deconstructs sound into difference frequency components. Hair cells transduce vibrations into action potentials. Sound = signal that changes over time: as pruzsynki speaks, the sound waves that reach your ears are changing over time (x axis, this plot represents both time and frequency. The ear must transduce/encode both pieces of information. Cochlea in this picture has been unwound and no longer represented in its snail-like form. Hair cells will respond at these locations. Since hair cells at the base are most excited by high frequency sounds, they encode high frequency sounds. Since hair cells at the apex are most excited by low frequency sounds, they encode low frequency sounds. Combination of where travelling wave reaches peaks + stiffness/floppiness of hair cells themselves produce the encoding property of frequency along the cochlea. Recall: waves that have been amplified and transformed by the series of bones travel in. Endolymph fluid contains a high concentration of k+.