1. Earlap and Ear canal (Outer Ear):
This consists of the earlap (auricle), which collects the sound and helps ascertain which direction it comes from, and the outer ear passage and the eardrum. Sound moves through the ear canal and strikes the eardrum.
2. Eardrum and bones (Middle Ear):
Sound waves cause the eardrum to vibrate, putting the bones in the middle ear into motion. Within just one square centimeter of the middle ear, the three smallest human bones are located: Hammer, anvil and stirrup. Their movements are triggered by the movements of the eardrum and sound is magnified twenty times, in order to guarantee further passage to the inner ear.
3. Inner ear:
This motion causes the fluid inside the inner ear (cochlea) to move the hair cells.
The actual hearing organ (Cochlea) is located in the inner ear. The cochlea’s snail-like structure has around 20,000 small sensory cells (so called hair sensory cells) which divide the sound into high and deep frequencies (pitches). The volume of tones, sounds and language is determined in the hair sensory cells and the mechanical vibrations (of the eardrum and the hearing bones) are transformed into electric impulses.
4. Hearing nerve:
The audio-sensory hair cells change the movement into electric impulses, which are sent through the hearing nerve into the brain, where they are divided and processed. It is here in the brain that the individual perceptions are differentiated and the various feelings of what is heard are determined; you feel sound!
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