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This essay looks at the human ear and the physics involved in converting the acoustical pressure or a sound
into a nervous response. The complexity of the ear is quite astounding when all its functions are considered
and even when only looking at it from an auditory processing point of view its abilities are often not as
appreciated as well as other senses. The essay will examine each part of the ear and the function they play in
successfully converting the sound into a
form the brain can process and also
auxiliary functions that are used daily but
seldom thought about.
To analyse the ear I have decided to divide
it up into three sections: The outer ear, the
middle ear and the inner ear visible in figure
1. The outer ear consists of the pinna, the
flap of tissue we call the ear and the
auditory canal. The middle ear is the section
of ear extending from the tympanic
membrane or ear drum to the oval window.
The inner ear looks at the oval window and
its relation to the cochlea. Each of these
three parts all play a distinctly different role in the sound conversion process as well as interesting functions
that they would not on first glance appear to have any hand in.
The Outer Ear and Sound Localisation
The outer ear consists of the auditory canal and the pinna. The pinna is the outer flap of tissue and it is with
distinct patterns of ridges and crevasses. Its main role is to reflect sound into the auditory canal so it can move
down through the ear and be processed however, the outer ear also plays a large role in sound localisation
due the nature of the patterns of the pinna. Sound localisation is the listeners ability to identify the location of
a sound source using only the auditory system. Humans only have two ears, generally, yet we are able to
identify sounds in three dimensions.
The method employed to measure lateral sound localisation depends on the frequency of the sound. For low
frequencies interaural time differences (ITDs) are measured. ITDs work on the principal that sound from the
right side of someone will reach their right ear before it reaches their left; the auditory system is able to
evaluate this time difference. There are 3 different ways that the auditory system is able to calculate this
time difference. If the stimulus is abrupt such as a click the onset ITDs are measured which simply means the
time difference between the sound reaching the two ears. If the stimulus is random then the transient ITD is
measured which similarly to the onset ITD is the time difference between a peak in the noise stimulus. If the
stimulus is not abrupt but periodic then an ongoing ITD is measured, this makes use of phase differences.
Imagine a sound source directly ahead of someone. The sound source is producing a sinusoidal wave at 261Hz
(roughly middle C). Currently the distance between the source is the same for each ear and the path
difference, the extra distance that the wave has to travel to reach the further ear is zero. Now as the source is
rotated around the head this path difference will vary from 0 to a maximum when the source is at 90 to the
head. This path difference corresponds to a phase difference of the tone as it reaches both ears so it is possible
from hearing the difference in phase to discern a corresponding angle for which the path difference will be
zero
[2]
.
Figure 1 - A diagram of the human outer, middle and inner ear
[1]
At higher frequencies, around 1600Hz and higher, the sound waves are much smaller than the dimensions of
the head. Determination of the direction the sound originates in cannot be achieved solely by ITD as a shorter
wavelength could repeat multiple times in the path difference, i.e. the path difference could still be zero but
the stimulus may not be directly in front of the listener. At these frequencies interaural level differences, ILDs,
are relied on more. The ILD is the relative volume or amplitude difference the listener experiences in each ear.
If the stimulus is on the right side of the head then the right ear will measure a greater amplitude compared
to the left ear. This is because of the head shadow that affects the left ear. A head shadow the region of
reduced amplitude as the sound has to travel through the head where it loses energy and therefore amplitude
[2]
.
The accuracy of human sound localisation has been estimated to be in the range of 0.75 - 2 for abrupt stimuli
(Klemm 1920, King & Laird 1930) and up to 4 for periodic stimuli (Sandel et al. 1955)
[3]
.
It may be clear that these methods alone cannot discern between a stimulus ahead of the listener to one
behind the listener and above or below the listener. This is where the shape of the outer ear becomes
important in sound localisation. A simplified way to describe the effect the pinna has is to describe the signal
at the ear drum as a combination of the sound that directly enters the ear canal and the echoes that bounce
off the folds of the pinna into the ear canal. These contributions constructively interfere at some frequencies
and destructively interfere at others. The process can now be thought of the original sound being acted on by
directional earprint before it reaches the eardrum. This pinna-induced amplification pattern or the earprint is
directionally dependent as a sound wave arriving from different angles will produce different echoes as its
angle of incidence on the folds of the pinna will be different
[4]
. These variations in the sound wave received at
the ear drum allow for the direction of a sound source to be learned by the way frequencies that are amplified
and attenuated. Interestingly as everyones pinna are individual in shape and size if you were to have someone
elses attached to you, you would not immediately be able to discern the origins of sounds as accurately. The
patterns of amplification and attenuation would be different to the ones you had learned.
The Middle Ear, sound transmission and hearing system protection
The middle ear is the portion of the ear that extends from the tympanic membrane (eardrum) to the oval
window (a small membrane that covers the entrance to the inner ear). The function of the middle ear is
twofold primarily it must convert the sound waves in the air to waves in the cochlea fluids whilst preserving
the amplitudes efficiently. Secondly it protects the hearing system from sounds loud enough to damage it.
The transfer of sound in the in the middle ear takes starts
at the ear drum, oddly it does the exact reverse of a drum
by converting sound to mechanical movement rather than
the other way around. To analyse this function of the
middle ear it is useful to think it consisting of only the four
parts required for the efficient transfer, the eardrum, the
hammer, the anvil and the stirrup to use their colloquial
names, no biologists here.
The small bones in the middle ear the hammer and anvil
are known as ossicles, they are formed in such a way that
their motion can be approximated by the lever system in
figure 2.
Figure 2 The Lever Model of the Ossicles
Hammer
(Malleus)
L
1
_
Anvil
(Incus)
L
2
Stirrup
(Stapes)
A
2
Eardrum
(Tympanic
membrane)
A
1
This system provides an effective and efficient transfer of energy in two different ways. Firstly is the lever
effect of the hammer and anvil. Basic mechanics says that the force experienced at the eardrum multiplied by
the length of the hammer must be equal to the length of the anvil multiplied by the force at the stirrup. As the
hammer is longer than the anvil the resultant force at the stirrup is greater than the force found at the
eardrum.
Secondly the stirrup has a much smaller area than the eardrum and as pressure is just force multiplied by area
the following trivial equation for the pressure at the stirrup can be found.