Hearing, like vision, is one of the major senses of the human body. And it plays a significant role in providing you with communication and distant warning. This particular sense can be used to notify or alert, to signal fear and pleasure as well. This could be the possible reason why people are interested in getting to know about which region of the ear houses perilymph and endolymph.
Well, the human body consists of various complicated elements and parts. And, ear is one of those complicated parts. Hearing is known as a conscious appreciation of sound waves of vibration which is mainly perceived as sound (meaning what we hear). To create sound and listen to by our ears, the appropriate kind of signal has to reach some specific parts of our brain.
The main function of our ears is to convert the physical vibration into some kind of encoded nervous impulse. Also, many think of it as a biological microphone.
To be honest, the ear and its structure seem to be somewhat complicated for normal people to understand.
This is why, throughout this article, I have made a brief discussion on the regions of the ear where perilymph and endolymph are located. I believe that you will find the following discussion a bit easy-to-understand. And this will ultimately help you get a clear idea about the perilymph and endolymph position.
Let’s get it started then….
Which Region of The Ear Houses Perilymph and Endolymph?
To get a complete idea of where the ear houses perilymph and endolymph, it is essential to have a clear idea about one of the most important body organs called the ear.
Your ears are basically a sort of paired organs, placed on two sides of your head, having the sense organ itself – technically called cochlea (deeply positioned within your temporal bones). Part of your ear is closely concerned with transmitting sound to that cochlea. And the cochlea is mainly responsible for transducing vibration or sound waves.
This transduction is primarily performed by specific hair cells for initiating the nervous impulse. As they are alive, they get nutrients, energy, and oxygen from their body fluids.
In this case, an important thing to note down is an air-vibration primarily transmits most of the sounds. Your ear features a complicated mechanism that mainly transmits those vibrations of the air to the brain as specific signals. Your brain then converts those air vibrations into sound (the thing we hear).
In this regard, world-famous mathematicians like Ada Lovelace and biologists like Charles Darwin focused heavily on researching the core of your body parts like the ear.
Sound Conducting Mechanism
The Outer Ear
The outer or external ear is responsible for transmitting sound to your tympanic membrane. The pinna – made of cartilage & covered by the skin – receives or collects sounds and then transmits it to your ear canal. The pinna is placed at an angle so that it can easily catch the sound waves. It also helps to localize the sound we hear.
The external auditory canal and pinna mainly form your external ear, which gets separation from the middle ear because of the tympanic membrane. Your middle ear has 3 ossicles – the incus, malleus, and stapes. It is also connected to the backside of your nose with the help of the Eustachian tube. And all of these parts together mainly form the sound conducting mechanism.
The Middle Ear
Your middle ear is something like an air-filled space, which is connected to the backside of your nose with the help of a thin, long tube known as the Eustachian tube. The middle ear mainly consists of 3 little bones – the anvil, hammer, and stirrup. They mainly receive and send sound to the tympanic membrane which is located at the inner ear.
The inner wall of the middle ear is known as the cochlea, and the outer wall is called the tympanic membrane.
Sound is mainly conducted from your tympanic membrane to your inner ear using 3 little bones called incus, malleus, and stapes.
The bone, called the malleus, has a club-like shape. It has a handle that is connected to the tympanic membrane – arising from the center to the upward direction.
The incus arises from the backside of the malleus. It hangs almost freely in the middle ear without facing an obstacle.
It has an angle bend that is connected to the stapes – known as the 3rd bone, which has a shape like a foot plate and an arch.
Sound Transducing Mechanism
Structure of The Inner Ear
This is the place where the perilymph and endolymph are located in your ear. So, study this particular section being as much attentive as it is possible for you to be.
The bony cochlea has such kind of name because it has got a snail-shell-like a shape. It mainly houses or places the hearing organ called the membranous labyrinth. And this hearing organ is surrounded by a special type of fluid called the perilymph.
In other words, the cochlea is a kind of bony tube that is mainly filled with a fluid called perilymph. And it floats through the membranous labyrinth with endolymph.
Again, your membranous labyrinth has 3 different sections. The outer sections of the membrane labyrinth are called the Scala Vestibuli which are connected to your oval window. The Scala tympani is again connected to your round window.
Both of these sections are entirely filled with the fluid called perilymph. At the same time, they also have a connection with the ending section of the vestibular, where there is a small channel called the perilymphatic aqueduct.
The membranous labyrinth is also called the cochlear duct, and this region is filled with fluid called endolymph.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Final Words
So, we have reached the ending section of our discussion regarding the region of the ear where perilymph and endolymph are located or housed.
It is my belief that I have successfully covered all the topics you need to know about the location of perilymph and endolymph throughout the above discussion.
Still, if you have any questions in mind, you can knock me at any point in time.
This is all I wanted to share this time!
Take Care!
See You Soon!
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