Library · Anatomy
Inner ear
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The inner ear is the deepest part of the ear, and it does two jobs at once: hearing, and keeping your balance and your orientation in space. It sits inside the petrous portion of the temporal bone, the dense part of the bone on the side of the head.
Inside, there are two labyrinths, one within the other. The bony labyrinth is the mold made of bone, and it is made up of the cochlea, which is shaped like a snail shell, the vestibule and the semicircular canals; that mold is filled with a fluid called perilymph. Suspended inside it is the membranous labyrinth, a flexible sac holding a different fluid, endolymph, and that is where the sensory organs live. A bony mold with a flexible sac inside it, and a different fluid on each side of the wall.
Each part has its own job. The cochlea holds the organ of Corti, which is the main receptor for hearing. And the vestibular system, the one for balance, is made up of the utricle, the saccule and the three semicircular ducts.
In brief
The inner ear perceives sound and maintains balance and spatial orientation, housed in the petrous portion of the temporal bone.
It consists of a bony labyrinth, with the cochlea, vestibule and semicircular canals filled with perilymph, and a membranous labyrinth suspended inside it, containing endolymph.
A bony mold with a flexible sac inside it, and a different fluid on each side of the wall.
The cochlea houses the organ of Corti, the primary receptor for hearing; the vestibular system comprises the utricle, saccule and three semicircular ducts.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAnatomy, Head and Neck: Inner Ear, StatPearlsPublished
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