Cochlea
Spiral inner-ear structure that converts sound vibrations into nerve impulses.
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The cochlea is a spiral-shaped cavity in the bony labyrinth of the inner ear that is involved in hearing. In humans it makes 2.75 turns around its axis, the modiolus, and is housed in the petrous part of the temporal bone. Its core component is the organ of Corti, the sensory organ of hearing, distributed along the partition separating the fluid chambers of the coiled tube.
Did You Know?
- The name 'cochlea' is derived from the Latin word for snail shell, from Ancient Greek κοχλίας (kokhlias, 'snail, screw').
- In 2009, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created an electronic chip that mimics a cochlea to analyze a large range of radio frequencies using a fraction of the power.
- The cochlea is coiled in mammals, with the notable exception of monotremes.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Cochlea (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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