Describe the process through which sound waves in the air are translated into nerve impulses to the brain.

Eden Serrano

Eden Serrano

Open question

2022-08-21

Describe the process through which sound waves in the air are translated into nerve impulses to the brain.

Answer & Explanation

Kendrick Mendez

Kendrick Mendez

Beginner2022-08-22Added 9 answers

The first step of the process of hearing is the entrance of sound waves (otherwise known as air pressure waves) into the ear canal.
After those sound waves travel through the ear canal, they interact with the part of the ear known as the eardrum which starts vibrating, transferring those vibrations into the middle ear.
In the middle ear, there are three tiny bones: hammer, anvil and stirrup. Vibrations from the eardrum move the hammer which then strikes the anvil which engages the stirrup. Stirrup then moves the vibrations into the final part of the ear, the inner ear.
Part of the inner ear, known as cochlea, uses chemical processes in order to convert the wave-form of the sound waves into electric signals, known as nerve impulses. With the movement of tiny hair cells at the end of the inner ear, those signals are transferred to the brain.
Transferred nerve impulses travel as electric signals in a complex web of interactions into the part of the brain that interprets them and then finally, allows you to hear.

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