What Are Ears and What Do They Do?
The ear is made up of three different sections that work together to collect sounds and send them to the brain: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear.
The Outer Ear: Collecting Sounds
The pinna is the part of the ear you see on the side of your head. Its main job is to gather sounds and funnel them to the ear canal.
The Middle Ear: Good Vibrations
The middle ear is an air-filled cavity that turns sound waves into vibrations and delivers them to the inner ear. The middle ear is separated from the outer ear by the eardrum, or tympanic membrane, a thin piece of tissue stretched tight across the ear canal. Sounds hit the eardrum, making it move.
The Inner Ear: Nerve Signals Start Here
The vibrations from the middle ear change into nerve signals in the inner ear. The inner ear includes the cochlea and the semicircular canals. The snail-shaped cochlea changes the vibrations from the middle ear into nerve signals. These signals travel to the brain along the cochlear nerve, also known as the auditory nerve.
