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The Cochlea

The Cochlea

The cochlea is a coiled structure in the inner ear that contains hair cells—the sensory receptors of the auditory system. Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea by small bones attached to the eardrum called the ossicles, which vibrate the oval window that leads to the inner ear. This causes fluid in the chambers of the cochlea to move, vibrating the basilar membrane.

Hair Cells

Hair Cells

Hair cells are the sensory receptors of the auditory system—they transduce mechanical sound waves into electrical energy that the nervous system can understand. Hair cells are located in the organ of Corti within the cochlea of the inner ear, between the basilar and tectorial membranes. The actual sensory receptors are called inner hair cells. The outer hair cells serve other functions, such as sound amplification in the cochlea, and are not discussed in detail here.

Anatomy of the Ear

Anatomy of the Ear

Auditory sensation, commonly called hearing, involves the transformation of sonic waves into neural impulses facilitated by the structures of the auditory organ. The prominent, flesh-like structure on the side of the head, called the auricle, directs sound waves towards the auditory canal. The auricle is often mislabeled as the pinna, a term more aligned with mobile structures like a feline's external ear. The auditory canal penetrates the cranium via the external auditory meatus of the...

Auditory Pathway

Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...

The Auditory Ossicles

The Auditory Ossicles

The auditory ossicles of the middle ear transmit sounds from the air as vibrations to the fluid-filled cochlea. The auditory ossicles consist of two malleus (hammer) bones, two incus (anvil) bones, and two stapes (stirrups), one on each side. These bones develop during the fetal stage and are the ones to ossify first. They are fully mature at birth and do not grow afterward.
The aptly named stapes look very much like a stirrup. The three ossicles are unique to mammals, and each plays a role in...

Hearing

Hearing

When we hear a sound, our nervous system is detecting sound waves—pressure waves of mechanical energy traveling through a medium. The frequency of the wave is perceived as pitch, while the amplitude is perceived as loudness.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 9, 2026

Extracting the Cochlea from a Human Temporal Bone: A Cadaveric Protocol

Extracting the Cochlea from a Human Temporal Bone: A Cadaveric Protocol

Published on: August 18, 2023

An active 2-d silicon cochlea.

T J Hamilton, C Jin, A van Schaik

IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems

|July 16, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces an analog integrated circuit for a 2-D cochlea, mimicking real cochlear nonlinear behavior. The design dynamically adjusts gain and frequency selectivity based on input signal amplitude.

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Area of Science:

Biomedical Engineering
Analog Integrated Circuit Design
Auditory Neuroscience

Background:

The human cochlea exhibits complex nonlinear behavior, crucial for auditory processing.
Existing artificial cochlear models often lack dynamic adaptation to input signal variations.

Purpose of the Study:

To present an analog integrated circuit design for an active 2-D cochlea.
To incorporate nonlinear behavior and dynamic gain/frequency selectivity control.

Main Methods:

Design of an active 2-D cochlear analog integrated circuit.
Implementation of a quality factor control loop for nonlinear behavior.
Fabrication and measurement of the chip.

Main Results:

Successful fabrication and measurement of the active 2-D cochlear chip.
Demonstration of a quality factor control loop mimicking real cochlear nonlinearities.
Validation of dynamic gain and frequency selectivity adjustment based on input amplitude.

Conclusions:

The proposed analog circuit effectively models key nonlinear aspects of the biological cochlea.
The dynamic control loop enhances the potential for advanced auditory prosthetics.
This design offers a novel approach to artificial cochlear systems.