Learn How the Ear Works in Victoria

The hearing process involves the outer, middle and inner ear as well as the brain.

Sound waves are collected by the outer ear (Pinna) and channelled down and along the ear canal (auditory meatus) to the eardrum — tympanic membranes. When sound waves hit the eardrum, the impact creates vibrations which, in turn, causes three bones — ossicles in the middle ear — to move, which are, the incus, malleus and in turn the stapes. The smallest of these bones, the stapes, is attached to the oval window which allows the vibration energy of the ossicles to be transmitted into the inner ear. When the oval window vibrates in and out, the fluid in the inner ear transmits the vibrations into the hearing organ, called the cochlea.

In the inner ear, thousands of microscopic hair cells are bent by the wave-like action of fluid inside the cochlea. The bending of these hairs sets off nerve impulses (electrochemical reaction) which are then passed through the auditory nerve to the hearing centre of the brain. This centre translates the impulses into sounds the brain can recognise.

It could be said that the ears are like a conduit for sound to travel through from our environment to our brain (auditory cortex). So, in essence, it’s not actually the ears themselves that hear, but, in fact, the brain.