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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.

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...

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.

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: Mar 24, 2026

In Ovo and Ex Ovo Methods to Study Avian Inner Ear Development

In Ovo and Ex Ovo Methods to Study Avian Inner Ear Development

Published on: June 16, 2022

Understanding cochleate formation: insights into structural development.

Kalpa Nagarsekar¹, Mukul Ashtikar¹, Frank Steiniger²

¹Lehrstuhl für Pharmazeutische Technologie, Institut für Pharmazie, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Lessingstraße 8, 07743 Jena, Germany. alfred.fahr@uni-jena.de.

|March 22, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers explored cochleate formation, a drug delivery system. They discovered intermediate ribbonlike structures and proposed a new pathway for cochleate assembly from lipids and calcium.

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Last Updated: Mar 24, 2026

In Ovo and Ex Ovo Methods to Study Avian Inner Ear Development

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Published on: June 16, 2022

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Published on: April 11, 2025

Cochlear Surface Preparation in the Adult Mouse

Cochlear Surface Preparation in the Adult Mouse

Published on: November 6, 2019

Area of Science:

Lipid self-assembly
Drug delivery systems
Nanotechnology

Background:

Cochleates are stable, multilamellar structures formed by the addition of cations (e.g., calcium) to anionic lipids (e.g., phosphatidylserines).
Cochleates show promise as advanced drug delivery systems in the pharmaceutical industry.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the intermediate structures formed during the self-assembly of cochleates.
To elucidate the pathway of cochleate formation from phosphatidylserine and calcium.

Main Methods:

Varying process temperature to control the rate of cochleate formation.
Utilizing electron microscopy to observe intermediate structures.

Main Results:

Observed the formation of ribbonlike structures during self-assembly.
Identified sequential formation of lipid stacks and networks preceding cochleates.
Found that lipid acyl chain variations did not significantly alter the evolved structures.

Conclusions:

Proposed a novel pathway for cochleate formation based on observed intermediate structures.
Gained new insights into the self-assembly process of cochleates.
This understanding can facilitate future biomedical applications of cochleates.