The central element of our hearing is the ear. It takes in sound waves, transforms them into electronic impulses and conducts them along the auditory nerve to the brain. There tones, sounds and language are taken in, processed and interpreted. In order to understand these complex processes better, imagine you are going on a walk through the ear:

The outer ear:
This consists of the earlap (auricle) which collects the sound and helps to ascertain which direction it comes from as well as the outer ear passage and the eardrum. When the sound reaches the eardrum it begins to vibrate and conducts it further to the middle ear through these movements.

The middle ear:
Within just one square centimetre of the middle ear, the three smallest human bones are located: Hammer, anvil and stirrup. Their movements are triggered by the movements of the eardrum and sound is magnified twenty times over in order to guarantee further passage to the inner ear.

The inner ear:
The actual hearing organ (Cochlea) is located in the inner ear. The cochlea’s snail like structure has around 20.000 small sensory cells (so called hair sensory cells) which divide the sound into high and deep frequencies (pitches). The volume of tones, sounds and language is determined in the hair sensory cells and the mechanical vibrations (of the eardrum and the hearing bones) are transformed into electrical impulses. These impulses reach the brain via the auditory nerve where they are divided and processed. It is here in the brain that the individual perceptions are differentiated and the various feelings of what is heard are determined.