Structure and Physiology of Human Ear Involved in Hearing

Hearing is the fundamental sense based on the normal functioning of the hearing organ “the ear,” which plays a vital role in social interaction and the ability of learning. The human ear is divided into three parts: the outer, middle, and inner ear. Defects in outer and middle ear can cause conductive hearing loss, while the defective inner ear may lead to sensorineural hearing loss. So, it is important to study the structure and physiology of the human ear. When a sound of particular frequency enters the outer ear, it passes through the auditory canal and strikes the tympanic membrane. It vibrates and passes these vibrations to three ossicles present in the middle ear. The ossicles amplify the vibrations of sound and send them to the cochlea in the inner ear. Cochlea contains organ of Corti, which converts these vibrations into electrical signals by its hair cells. The neural signals in turn are interpreted by the brain, which one can hear and understand. The aim of this chapter is to review the basic structure and physiology of different parts of the human ear that are involved in the hearing process.