Kuuloluuketju

Kuuloluuketju, often translated as the auditory pathway or the chain of hearing, refers to the series of structures and neural pathways that transmit sound from the outer ear to the brain, enabling us to perceive sound. This complex process begins when sound waves enter the external auditory canal and strike the eardrum, causing it to vibrate. These vibrations are then amplified by the three tiny bones in the middle ear: the malleus, incus, and stapes.

The stapes transmits these amplified vibrations to the oval window, a membrane-covered opening into the cochlea, located in the inner ear. Inside the cochlea, the vibrations cause the fluid within its spiral-shaped structure to move, stimulating thousands of tiny hair cells. These hair cells, which are the sensory receptors for hearing, convert the mechanical vibrations into electrical signals.

These electrical signals are then transmitted along the auditory nerve, also known as the cochlear nerve, to the brainstem. From the brainstem, the signals are relayed through several other neural structures, including the inferior colliculus and the medial geniculate nucleus of the thalamus. Finally, the auditory information reaches the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe of the brain, where it is interpreted as sound. The entire kuuloluuketju is essential for our ability to hear and understand the auditory world around us.