The inner ear

Sound comes into the inner ear as vibrations and enters the cochlea , a small, curled tube in the inner ear.
The cochlea is filled with liquid, which is set into motion, like a wave, when the ossicles vibrate.

The cochlea is also lined with tiny cells covered in tiny hairs that are so small you would need a microscope to see them.
They may be small, but they're awfully important.
When sound reaches the cochlea, the vibrations (sound) cause the hairs on the cells to move, creating nerve signals that the brain understands as sound.
The brain puts it together.


The cochlea transforms sounds into action potentials in auditory nerve fibers.
This process is known as mechano-electrical transduction.
Vibrations of the tympanic membrane (TM) are finally transmitted to those of basilar membrane (BM) in the cochlea through the perilympth.
The organ of Corti sits on the BM, and it consists of sensory cells such as outer hair cells (OHCs), inner ear cells (IHCs) and many other kinds of cells.

Every sound makes a different vibration of the basilair membrane
In the flashfile you can see and hear 2 different types of sounds.