The Cochlea

The inner ear structure called the cochlea is a snail-shell like structure divided into three fluid-filled parts. Two are canals for the transmission of pressure and in the third is the sensitive organ of Corti, which detects pressure impulses and responds with electrical impulses which travel along the auditory nerve to the brain.

Discussion of the inner ear

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Section of Cochlea

The cochlea has three fluid filled sections. The perilymph fluid in the canals differs from the endolymph fluid in the cochlear duct. The organ of Corti is the sensor of pressure variations.

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The Fluid Filled Cochlea

The pressure changes in the cochlea caused by sound entering the ear travel down the fluid filled tympanic and vestibular canals which are filled with a fluid called perilymph. This perilymph is almost identical to spinal fluid and differs significantly from the endolymph which fills the cochlear duct and surrounds the sensitive organ of Corti. The fluids differ in terms of their electrolytes and if the membranes are ruptured so that there is mixing of the fluids, the hearing is impaired.

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