Showing posts with label Ears. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ears. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Eustachian Tube


We just learned about the Tensor Tympani.

Another part of the ears is the Eustachian Tube.

This is a part of the ear that goes toward the nose.
The middle ear is kind of like a balloon that is filled with air.
When you go on an airplane, the air pressure makes the balloon swell up bigger, and makes it hard to hear.
The eustachian tube is a way for your body to let out a little bit of air so the balloon of your middle ear goes back to normal.
Usually chewing gum or swallowing helps your ears open the eustachain tube, and because it sometimes makes a popping sound, some people call it making your ears pop.

The middle ear can also get some bad liquids in it that need to be drained out, so the eustachian tube helps drain those, and they would come out the nose.


(from: wikipedia - eustachian tube)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Thymus

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Tensor Tympani


We just learned about the Stapedius Muscle.

Another muscle in the ear is the Tensor Tympani.

This muscle is in the middle ear and is connected to the malleus or hammer bone.
When you are chewing your food that would be really loud in your ears since the ear is right by the mouth.
But the tensor tympani muscle tightens up when you are chewing and that helps to block the sounds that your mouth makes so it is not so loud when you eat.


(from: wikipedia - tensor tympani muscle)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Phagocytosis

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Stapedius Muscle


We just learned about the Oval Window.

Another part of the ear is the Stapedius Muscle.

Remember we learned about the ear bone called the stirrup or stapes.
Just like you might think from the name, the stapedius muscle is what controls the stapes bone, and keeps it from wiggling too much when sound comes in and vibrates the bone.

This is the smallest bone in the body, and is just about 1 millimeter.


(from: wikipedia - stapedius muscle)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Spleen

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Oval Window


We just learned about the Stapes bone of the ear.

Another part of the ear is the Oval Window, also called the venestra vestibuli or fenestra ovalis.

The vibrations come in to the ear and shake the hammer, anvil and stirrup.
The stirrup is connected to the oval window, which is oval shaped and leads to the cochlea and the inner ear.


(from: wikipedia - oval window)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Basophil

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Stapes


We just learned about the Malleus and Incus, also called the hammer and anvil.
.

Another bone in the ear is the Stapes also called the stirrup.
This is the smallest bone in the human body, at about 3 millimeters.
It gets the name stirrup because it looks like a stirrup from a saddle used to ride a horse.

Just like the malleus and incus, when these bones move they also move the stapes and it sends the vibrations on toward the inner ear.


(from: wikipedia - stapes)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Eosinophil

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Incus


We just learned about the Malleus.

Another part of the ear is the Incus.

Incus is a Latin word that means anvil.
This is the bone in the ear next to the malleus or hammer.
The hammer takes vibrations from the eardrum and passes them on to the anvil which also vibrates and shakes.


(from: wikipedia - incus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Neutrophil

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Malleus


We just learned about the Ear Ossicles.

One of the three bones that make up the Ossicles is the Malleus, also called the hammer.

The malleus is touching the eardrum, and when the eardrum vibrates from sound coming in, it shakes the malleus bone.
When the malleus bone shakes, it is touching the other ossicles and sends the vibrations toward the inner ear.


(from: wikipedia - malleus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Monocyte

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Ear Ossicles


We just learned about the Middle Ear.

Part of the middle ear is called the Ossicles.

These are three bones in the ear that help take the sound coming from the outer ear and vibrate to help send the right sounds to the inner ear.


(from: wikipedia - ossicles)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: B Cells

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Middle Ear


We just learned about the Perilymph.

Another part of the ear is the Middle Ear.

We've learned about the outer ear that you can see on the outside of the body, and the inner ear that turns the sound into messages for the brain to understand.

The Middle Ear is in between the outer and inner ear, and helps take the sound brought in by the outer ear and turn it into sound waves for the inner ear to send to the brain.

(from: wikipedia - middle ear)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: T Cells

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Perilymph


We just learned about the Organ of Conti.

Another part of the ears is the Perilymph.

This is a gooey liquid that is inside the bony labryinth we learned about.
The perilymph helps control the electrical messages that are sent to the brain when the ear hears a sound and turns it into a message.


(from: wikipedia - perilymph)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: NK Cells

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Organ of Corti


We just learned about the Ear Hair Cells.

Another part of the ear is the Organ of Corti.

This is the part inside the cochlea that holds on to all of the different types of ear hair cells.


(from: wikipedia - organ of corti)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lymphocyte

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Ear Hair Cells


We just learned about the Cochlea.

Another part of the ear is the Hair Cells.

Inside the Cochlea are tiny microscopic hairs that move when sound hits them.
When these hairs move, the part of the body they are attached to lets out some chemicals.
Those chemicals then touch some other cells in the body which let out electricity.
That electricity sends the message to the brain that the body heard a sound.

Depending on how loud, soft, high or low the sound is, the hairs will wiggle differently,
and that will send different chemicals and different electricity to the brain to tell you what sounds you are hearing.


(from: wikipedia - hair cell)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Platelet

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Cochlea


We just learned about the Semicircular Canals.

Another part of the bony labryinth in the inner ear is the Cochlea.

This is a spiral that sounds go into, and there are little hairs inside the spiral that send signals to the brain telling it what sounds are being heard.
The different parts of the spiral help the ear listen to different types of sounds.
At the opening the spiral collects sounds that are high pitched like a whistle.
As the spiral goes in further the sounds get lower, more like a big drum beating.

All of these different sounds get sent to the brain to hear all the different highs and lows.

The name cochlea comes from the greek word for spiral snail shell.


(from: wikipedia - cochlea)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Red Blood Cell

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Semicircular Canals


We just learned about the Eardrum.

Another part of the ear is the Semicircular Canals.

On the outside of the inner ear are three tubes that go out like circles and then come back to the ear.
These are part of the bony labryinth, and they are what help the body tell which direction the head is moving.

Inside these tubes is some liquid, and at the opening of the tubes are some very tiny hairs.
When you move your head around, the liquid bumps into the hairs, which send signals to the brain telling it that you are moving.

The three semicircular canal tubes go in three different directions so that they can tell whether you are tilting your head, moving up or down, or side to side.


(from: wikipedia - semicircular canals)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: White Blood Cell

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Eardrum


We just learned about the Vestibule of the Ear.

Another part of the ear is the Eardrum also called the tympanic membrane or myringa.

This is a thin piece of skin and tissue that works almost like a drum.
When sound comes into the ear, the eardrum vibrates.
There are nerves connected to the eardrum, so when it moves it sends signals to the brain telling it that the ear is hearing sounds.


(from: wikipedia - eardrum)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blood Cell

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Vestibule of the Ear


We just learned about the part of the inner ear called the Bony Labryinth.

Another part of the inner ear is the Vestibule of the Ear.

The word vestibule means entrance, and this part of the ear has pathways going to the other parts of the inner ear.
It also has some walls that have tiny holes in them where very thin hairlike nerves go through to other parts of the ear.


(from: wikipedia - vestibule of the ear)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Haematopoiesis

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Bony Labyrinth


We just learned about the Inner Ear.

One part of the inner ear is the Bony Labyrinth, also called the osseous labyrinth or otic capsule.

We learned a while ago that the part of the skull bone on the side of the head is called the Temporal Bone
Inside the temporal bone is the Bony Labyrinth, which is where the inner ear is.


(from: wikipedia - bony labyrinth)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bone Marrow

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Inner Ear


We just learned about the Ear Canal.

Another part of the ear is the Inner Ear, also called the internal ear, or auris interna.

We learned about the parts of the outer ear that you can see outside the body.
After the outer ear helps bring sounds to the ear and into the ear canal, the parts of the inner ear help turn all of those noises and sound waves into something the brain can understand.


(from: wikipedia - inner ear)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lymph Nodes

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Ear Canal


We just learned about the Concha.

On the outer ear we know about:
- The auricle or pinna, which is the main outside part of the ear
- The helix, which is the folded over part around the outside
- The antihelix, which is the Y shaped bump that sticks out
- The antitragus, which is the bump pointing up that is connected to the earlobe
- The tragus, which is the part closest to the cheek that sticks out
- The earlobe, which is the part that hangs down at the bottom
- The intertragic notch, which is the open space between the tragus and antitragus
- The concha, which is the part of the ear that leads right into the inside of the ear.

Another part of the outer ear is the Ear Canal, also called the external auditoriy meatus, or EAM.

This is the tunnel in your ear that leads to the inner ear.
For a grown up, the ear canal is usually about 1 inch long, and 1/3 of an inch wide.

The ear canal (external acoustic meatus, external auditory meatus, EAM) is a pathway running from the outer ear to the middle ear. The adult human ear canal extends from the pinna to the eardrum and is about 2.5 centimetres (1 in) in length and 0.7 centimetres (0.3 in) in diameter.
(from: wikipedia - ear canal)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lymphatic Vessel

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Concha


We just learned about the Intertragic Notch.

On the outer ear we know about:
- The auricle or pinna, which is the main outside part of the ear
- The helix, which is the folded over part around the outside
- The antihelix, which is the Y shaped bump that sticks out
- The antitragus, which is the bump pointing up that is connected to the earlobe
- The tragus, which is the part closest to the cheek that sticks out
- The earlobe, which is the part that hangs down at the bottom
- The intertragic notch, which is the open space between the tragus and antitragus

Another part of the ear is the Concha.

This is the part of the ear that is shaped like a bowl, and leads right into the deeper inside part of the ear.


(from: wikipedia - auricle (anatomy))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lymph Capillary