ABSTRACT
The inner ear is complex, and contains the cochlea, the structure that changes sound waves to auditory neural signals, and the vestibular organs, which are central to the somatosensory system. The cochlea is a fluid-filled structure containing hair cells. These hair cells are the sensory cells that create the neural signal that is carried to the brain. The outer hair cells also connect to the central nervous system via the auditory nerve but their role seems to be more one of moderating the response of the inner hair cells. The ear canal leads to the eardrum that separates the outer ear from the middle ear. The middle ear contains three tiny ossicles the malleus, incus and stapes. At each of the nuclei in the auditory pathway, cells are organized in order of frequency. This is referred to as a tonotopic organization.
