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Together with the cochlea, a part of the auditory system, it constitutes the labyrinth of the inner ear in most mammals. As movements consist of rotations and translations, the vestibular system comprises two components: the semicircular canals, which indicate rotational movements; and the otoliths, which indicate linear accelerations.
Lightly resting atop the longest cilia of the inner hair cells is the tectorial membrane, which moves back and forth with each cycle of sound, tilting the cilia, which is what elicits the hair cells' electrical responses. Inner hair cells, like the photoreceptor cells of the eye, show a graded response, instead of the spikes typical of other ...
Cholesteatoma is a destructive and expanding growth consisting of keratinizing squamous epithelium in the middle ear and/or mastoid process. [1] [2] Cholesteatomas are not cancerous as the name may suggest, but can cause significant problems because of their erosive and expansile properties.
The mastoid antrum (tympanic antrum, antrum mastoideum, Valsalva's antrum) is an air space in the petrous portion of the temporal bone, communicating posteriorly with the mastoid cells and anteriorly with the epitympanic recess of the middle ear via the aditus to mastoid antrum (entrance to the mastoid antrum). These air spaces function as ...
The middle ear includes the tympanic cavity and the three ossicles. The inner ear sits in the bony labyrinth, and contains structures which are key to several senses: the semicircular canals, which enable balance and eye tracking when moving; the utricle and saccule, which enable balance when stationary; and the cochlea, which
The tympanic nerve (Jacobson's nerve) is a branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve passing through the petrous part of the temporal bone to reach the middle ear. It provides sensory innervation for the middle ear, the Eustachian tube, the parotid gland, and mastoid cells. It also carries parasympathetic fibers destined for the parotid gland.
The vestibulo-ocular reflex is a reflex eye movement that stabilizes images on the retina during head movement by producing an eye movement in the direction opposite to head movement in response to neural input from the vestibular system of the inner ear, thus maintaining the image in the centre of the visual field. For example, when the head ...
Inflammation which has spread to the mastoid air cells is very difficult to drain and causes considerable pain. Before the advent of antibiotics , it could only be drained by drilling a hole in the mastoid bone, a process known as mastoidectomy .