NEUROSC M101A Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Vestibular Duct, Oval Window, Cochlear Nucleus
Document Summary
Em wave vs. mechanical wave, the latter needs a medium. Speaker membrane moves back and forth - pulling and pushing air molecules. Two peaks of compressed air is one cycle - frequency measured in. Number of peaks per second determines freq. of sound. Intensity expressed in w/m2 or db or b. The sound waves enter the ear, hit the tympanic membrane, which moves, moving the ossicles. Moving the ossicles move the membrane at the oval window - moves the fluid in the cochlea. This activates hair cells in cochlea, so mechanical energy is converted to neuronal energy. Human ear - 20 hz to 20 khz. Frequency is referred to as the pitch of the sound. Intensity is perceived as the loudness, but they are not the same. Human hearing - speech, music, and environmental sounds. The organ of hearing: ear, outer ear, auditory canal (tympanic membrane), ossicles. The outer ear directs sound into the auditory canal.
