AUD 6305-001 FALL 2004 PAGE 1

SYLLABUS

AUD 6305-001 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF AUDITION, FALL 2005

Instructor: Aage R. Møller Ph.D.

E-mail: AMOLLER@UTDALLAS.EDU

This course is integrated and taught together with AUD-6303 HEARING SCIENCE

Location: Room A229,

Callier Center for Communication Disorders
Time: Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-11:45
Begin: August 18, 2004

The course provides basic knowledge about the normal function of the ear and the
auditory nervous system and their pathophysiology. It is important that those who work with
hearing impaired people are knowledgeable about the function of not only the normal
auditory system but also of the diseased auditory system. This course will therefore also
provide knowledge about the function of the pathologic auditory system and it will discuss
diagnosis of disorders of the auditory system. The use of electrophysiological methods in
the operating room for reducing the risk of hearing loss (intraoperative neurophysiological
monitoring) will be discussed.

Course layout
The course begins with the anatomy and physiology of the ear. Sound conduction to
the cochlea and the role of the middle ear in increasing the sensitivity of the ear will be
discussed. The frequency analysis in the cochlea and the transduction of sound into a
neural code is described. The role of the outer hair cells in increasing the sensitivity of the
ear and sharpening cochlear frequency selectivity is discussed.
The course covers the anatomical organization of the ascending and the descending
auditory pathways and implications of its complexity are discussed. Coding of sound in the
AUD 6305-001 FALL 2004 PAGE 2

individual nerve fibers of the auditory nerve and the transformation that occurs in the nuclei
of the ascending auditory pathway are covered. The importance of this transformation for
interpretation of complex sounds such as speech sounds is emphasized. The anatomy and
the function of the descending auditory nervous system and of the non-classical
(extralemniscal) ascending auditory nervous system is also included.
Evoked potentials that originate in the ear and the auditory nervous system have
played important roles in studies of the function of the auditory system in animals and now
play an important role in diagnosis of disorders of the auditory system. The generation of
auditory evoked potentials in general is discussed and the different kinds of electrical
potentials that can be recorded from the ear and the auditory nervous system in responses
to sounds are described. The difference between near field and far field evoked potentials
are discussed and the neural generators of the brainstem auditory evoked potentials are
described. The pathophysiology of some common disorders of the auditory nervous system
will be discussed.
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OUTLINE

A. ANATOMY OF THE EAR

Outer ear and ear canal
Middle ear
Tympanic membrane
Ossicles
Middle ear muscles
Cochlea
Organ of Corti
Inner and outer hair cells
Supporting cells
Nerve supply
Blood supply to the cochlea
Fluid systems of the cochlea
Importance of maintaining normal pressure in the inner ear

B. SOUND CONDUCTION TO THE COCHLEA

The acoustic properties of the head
Physical basis for directional hearing in the horizontal plane
Intra-aural time difference
Intensity difference
Directional hearing in the vertical plane
The middle ear
The middle ear as an impedance transformer
Frequency dependence of sound transmission through the middle ear
The function of the tympanic membrane
The middle ear muscles
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C. PATHOLOGIES OF THE SOUND CONDUCTING APPARATUS

Outer ear and ear canal
Ear canal collapse
Ear canal atresia
Middle ear
Perforation of the tympanic membrane.
Fixation of the ossicular chain
Interruption of the ossicular chain
Cholesteatoma etc.
Air pressure in the middle ear
Fluid in the middle ear (middle ear effusion).
Hearing without the middle ear
Middle ear prostheses

D. FUNCTION OF THE COCHLEA

Basilar membrane
Frequency selectivity of the basilar membrane
Role of the traveling wave motion
Active and non-linear cochlea
Outer hair cells as "motors" (positive feedback)
Cochlea as a generator of sound (otoacoustic emission)
Role of the olivocochlear efferent system.
Sensory transduction in the cochlea
Inner hair cells as mechano-transducers
Are the hair cells sensitive to velocity or displacement of the basilar
membrane?
Generation of electrical potentials in the cochlea.
Cochlear microphonics (CM)
Summating potentials (SP)
Action potential (AP)
Electrocochleographic (ECoG) potentials
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E. DISORDERS OF THE COCHLEA

Audiometric signatures of cochlear injury
Relationship between hearing loss and speech discrimination.
Injuries to the cochlea from external causes
Noise induced hearing loss
Prevention of hearing loss from noise exposure
Hearing loss from pharmacological agents
Hearing loss from disease processes
Ménière’s disease
Meningitis and other infectious diseases
Fistula of the cochlear windows
Hereditary hearing loss
Sudden hearing loss
Age related hearing loss (Presbycusis)

F. ANATOMY OF THE AUDITORY NERVOUS SYSTEM

Classical ascending auditory nervous system
Auditory nerve
Cochlear nucleus
Superior olivary complex and nuclei of the lateral lemniscus
Inferior colliculus
Medial geniculate body
Auditory cortex
Non-classical ascending auditory systems
Acoustic middle ear reflex
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G. PHYSIOLOGY OF THE AUDITORY NERVOUS SYSTEM

Ascending (classical) auditory nervous system
Frequency selectivity
Coding of temporal pattern
Transformation of complex sounds in the auditory nuclei
"Hearing with two ears"
Importance of parallel processing in the auditory system
Efferent (descending) system
Ascending (non-classical) auditory systems
The acoustic middle ear reflex
Functional importance of the acoustic middle ear reflex
Other acoustic reflexes
Generation of sound evoked potentials
Farfield auditory evoked potentials
Brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP)
Neural generators of the (BAEP), human studies
Recording of auditory evoked potentials in the operating room
Near field evoked responses from the auditory nervous system
Recordings from the intracranial portion of the auditory nerve.
Recordings from other parts of the ascending auditory pathway
Middle latency evoked potentials (MLR)
The 40 Hz response
Magnetoencephalography
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H. DISORDERS OF THE AUDITORY NERVOUS SYSTEM

Injury to the auditory nerve
Audiometric changes related to auditory nerve injury
Importance of neural coherency
Relationship between hearing loss and speech discrimination.
Injury to the central auditory pathway
The effect of bilirubinemia
Injury of auditory cortical areas
Relationship between hearing loss and speech discrimination
Low redundancy speech tests
Role of neural plasticity in disorders of the auditory nervous system
Effect of deprivation of input and overstimulation.
Tinnitus
Hyperacusis and phonphobia
Similarity between tinnitus and chronic pain
Similarities with phantom sensations (pain)
Involvement of the non-classical ascending auditory system

Required book:
Møller, A.R. Hearing: Its Physiology and Pathophysiology. Academic Press, San
Diego, 2000
ISBN 0-12-504255-8 (Instructor will provide this book at a discounted price).

Supplementary readings:
Zigmond MJ, Bloom FE, Landis SC, Roberts JL, Squire LR: Fundamental
Neuroscience, San Diego, Academic Press, 1999
ISBN 0-12-780870-1
7/6/05