Auditory Transduction and Frequency Processing

Vocabulary flashcards detailing the mechanisms of auditory transduction, cochlear structure, tonotopic organization, and cochlear implants based on the lecture notes.

Transduction

The process by which physical energy in the environment encounters a peripheral nervous system structure and is converted into electrical signals for the central nervous system.

Eardrum

A structure in the ear that vibrates in a systematic way that directly maps onto the amplitude and frequency of incoming sound waves.

Cochlea

A snail-shaped, fluid-filled structure in the inner ear through which fluid waves flow following the vibration of auditory bones.

Mechanical Transduction

The form of transduction occurring in audition, based on physical movement that literally pulls open ion channels.

Tonotopic Organization

An organizational principle where adjacent parts of a membrane respond to adjacent frequencies of sound in a systematic way, with high frequencies at the beginning and low frequencies near the end.

Tip Links

Rope-like chains connecting the tips of hair cell bristles to the lids of ion channels in the cochlea.

Tectorial Membrane

The upper structure in the cochlea against which hair cell bristles hit, causing tip links to pull open ion channel lids.

Potassium Channel

Ion channels in hair cells that are pulled open mechanically, allowing potassium from the surrounding fluid to rush into the hair cell and make it more positive.

Auditory Nerve

The nerve that receives neurotransmitters released by depolarized hair cells, carrying electrical impulses to the central nervous system.

Cochlear Implant

A medical device containing a microphone and computer that performs frequency analysis on sound to electrically stimulate the auditory nerve in a tonotopic way.