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The Cochlea

Topic
  • Anatomy & Physiology
  • Nervous & Endocrine Systems
Resource Type
  • Videos
  • Animations
Level
College
Duration
00:01:33
Favorited By
2 Users
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View in Spanish
Description

This animation illustrates how the human cochlea, a structure in the inner ear involved in hearing, receives sound in the form of vibrations.

Sounds pass as vibrations through tiny bones in our ear to the cochlea. The basilar membrane in the cochlea senses different sound frequencies at specific locations. Vibrations from low-frequency tones are sensed at the farthest end of the basilar membrane. The movements of the basilar membrane in response to these vibrations send signals to the brain that are translated into different sounds.

This animation, narrated by neuroscientist A. James Hudspeth, demonstrates how high-frequency sounds penetrate only a short distance along the basilar membrane.  Depending on students’ backgrounds, it may be helpful to pause the animation at various points to discuss different features.

Details
Key Terms

ear, frequency, hearing, inner ear, music, sound wave, spectral analysis, vibration

Terms of Use

Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.

Version History
Date Published 02.05.97
Date Updated 06.02.20
Curriculum Connections
NGSS (2013)

HS-PS4.A

AP Biology (2019)

ENE-3

Vision and Change (2009)

CC4

Materials
Large (MOV) 6 MB
Large (WMV) 6 MB
Small (MOV) 3 MB
Small (WMV) 3 MB
Transcript (PDF) 11 KB
Spanish Dub (Español) (MP4) 27 MB
Transcript - Español (PDF) 161 KB

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