Unit 4 - Hearing and Other Senses

the vocabulary words for this chapter

audition

hearing

frequency

determines a sound's pitch

pitch

highness of lowness of a sound

middle ear

part of ear that includes the eardrum, hammer, anvil, and stirrup; transmits sound waves to inner ear

cochlea

snail-looking part of inner ear; holds the basilar membrane and receptor hair cells; retina of hearing; triggers nerve impulses that are sent to the brain

inner ear

contains the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

place theory

explains how we hear high pitched sounds; depend on where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated

frequency theory

explains how we hear low pitched sounds; the speed at which nerve impulses travel up the auditory nerve

conduction hearing loss

caused by damage to the eardrum or three bones of the middle ear; treated through hearing aids

sensorineural hearing loss (nerve deafness)

caused by damage to the cochlea's receptors cells or to the auditory nerve; treated through cochlea implants

cochlea implant

converts sound into electrical signals that stimulate the auditory nerve through electrodes threaded into the cochlea

kinesthesis

sensing the movement of body parts via receptor cells in joints, tendons, bones, and ear (works with prorioception)

vestibular sense

gives a sense of balance and gravity (equilibrium) by monitoring the heads position via feedback from the semicircular canals

nociceptors

sensory skin receptors (neurons) whose signals ae interpreted by the brain as pain

endorphins

reduce pain perception

pain without with sensation

phantom limb pain and tinnitus

gate-control theory

hypothesizes that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks or allows pain signals to pass onto the brain

McGurk effect

sensory interaction between two or more senses; smell and taste; vision and hearing