Human Ear Diagram

Human body is like a big machine, and various processes take place inside it. One of these amazing human body systems, is the ear and the process of hearing, where the sound waves entering the ear get converted into electric impulses for the brain to understand. Let us take a look at the human ear structure with the help of the diagram, and the process of hearing.



The Structure of Human Ear

Defined below are the different parts of the ear. Refer to the above image for the diagram of the ear, to identify the different parts.

• Helix: It is the in-curve rim of the external ear.
• Anti-helix: It is the landmark of the outer ear.
• Crest of Helix: Crest of helix is the landmark of the outer ear.
• Auditory Ossicles: The three small bones in the middle ear are called hammer/malleus, the stirrup/stapes and anvil/incus which are connected. These bones together are called the ossicular chain, and their purpose is to let the sound that strikes the eardrum further into the inner ear.
• Oval Window: Oval window is the opening in the bone which is between the air filled middle ear cavity, and the fluid filled inner ear. It is covered by a thin membrane.
• External Auditory Canal: External auditory canal or ear canal, is the channel from which the sound enters from the outside ear to the middle ear.
• Eardrum/Tympanic Membrane: It is the thin layer of the skin at the end of the external ear canal.
• Cochlea: Cochlea is the part of the inner ear, which contains part of the hearing organs.
• Eustachian Tube: It is a tube which connects the middle ear cavity and the pharynx. Sometimes it can open while coughing or swallowing.
• Semicircular Canals: They are the part of the organ of balance which is the part of the inner ear.
• Eighth Nerve: It is nerve that transmits messages from the inner ear to the brain.

How Do We Hear?

Here are the steps in which the sound enters the ear, so that we get to hear. The sound waves entering the ear, travel first through the ear canal and vibrate the eardrum. Before the sound waves enter the inner ear, the total pressure must be amplified. The ossicles in the middle ear do the job of amplification. Then the cochlea in the inner ear conducts the sound through a fluid. Cochlea is a complex part of the ear, which takes the physical vibrations caused by the sound waves and translates them into electrical information for the brain to recognize as sound. The organ of corti which contains thousands of tiny little hair cells, when moved send electrical impulses through the cochlear nerve. The cochlear nerve then passes these impulses to the cerebral cortex and the brain interprets them, and we get to hear.

This was all about the different organs of the ear and the interesting process which goes on inside the ear through which we get to hear different kinds of sound. Here, is a blank human ear diagram for you to label, which will help you memorize the different parts of the human ear.