14. AUDITION - Ear and Sensory Transduction

Stimulus

A detectable change in the environment that can elicit a response.

Emotion

A complex psychological state involving an experiential component, a physiological response, and a behavioral or expressive response.

Connection

A relationship in which a person or thing is linked or associated with something else.

Belief

An acceptance that something exists or is true, especially one without proof.

Bias

A tendency to lean in a certain direction, often to the detriment of an open mind.

Fear

An unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.

Reflex

An involuntary and nearly instantaneous movement in response to a stimulus.

Anxiety

A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.

Impulse

A sudden strong and unreflective urge to act.

Longing

A strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.

Timbre

The quality of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds of the same pitch and volume.

Pitch

The degree of highness or lowness of a tone, determined by the frequency of the sound wave.

Loudness

The perceived intensity of a sound, related to the amplitude of sound waves.

Cochlea

A spiral-shaped structure in the inner ear that is responsible for converting sound into neural signals.

Organ of Corti

The sensory organ within the cochlea that contains hair cells responsible for transducing sound waves into electrical signals.

Auditory nerve

The nerve that carries auditory sensory information from the cochlea to the brain.

Sensory transduction

The process by which sensory stimuli are converted into electrical signals in the nervous system.

Basilar membrane

A membrane in the cochlea that vibrates in response to sound waves, helping to create a tonotopic representation of sound.

Cilia

The hair-like structures on hair cells that bend in response to sound waves, leading to sensory transduction.

Deiters's cells

Cells that support hair cells in the cochlea and anchor them to the basilar membrane.