Week 8 Auditory and Vestibular Systems

Vocabulary flashcards based on lecture notes for auditory, vestibular, olfactory, gustatory, and visual systems.

Pinna

Captures and channels sound waves into auditory canal

Tympanic membrane (ear drum)

Where middle ear starts, persists until lateral wall of inner ear

Auditory ossicles

Three tiny bones in middle ear that act as a chain to magnify vibrations received - malleus or hammer, incus or anvil, tapes or stirrup

Tensor tympani and stapedius muscles

Tighten eardrum and move ossicles when required to reduce pressure on oval window when there is continuing excessive loud noise, protective reflex

Auditory Transduction

The process of conversion of sound waves into electrical impulses.

Base of the Cochlea

The specific part of the basilar membrane that responds to high frequencies.

Apex of the Cochlea

The specific part of the basilar membrane that responds to low frequencies.

Conductive Hearing Loss

Disorders involving the external or middle ear that impair sound transmission.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Disorders involving the inner ear, cochlear nerve, or central pathways.

Functions of the Vestibular System

Four main functions including perception, gaze stabilisation, postural control, and autonomic regulation.

Semicircular Canals

Structures that detect angular acceleration and deceleration.

Utricle and Saccule

Structures that detect linear acceleration and head position relative to gravity.

Vestibulo-ocular Reflex

A reflex where eyes move equal and opposite to head movement.

Vertigo

An illusion of spinning or movement.

BPPV

Condition caused by displaced otoconia entering a semicircular canal.

Anosmia

Loss of smell.

Hyposmia

Reduced sensitivity to odours.

CN I

The cranial nerve that mediates smell.

CN VII, IX and X

The cranial nerves responsible for carrying taste information.

Ageusia

Loss of taste.

Rods

Photoreceptors responsible for vision in low light.

Cones

Photoreceptors responsible for colour and high-acuity vision.

Bitemporal Hemianopia

A visual deficit resulting from a lesion of the optic chiasm.