The portion of the ear located within the temporal bone which includes the semicircular canals, vestibule, and cochlea and is responsible for hearing and balance
The portion of the ear located within the temporal bone that is involved in both hearing and balance and includes the semicircular canals, vestibule, and cochlea. Also called internal ear, labyrinth. or labyrinth of the ear Part of the ear containing organs of hearing and equilibrium. The bony labyrinth has three sections (semicircular canals, vestibule, and cochlea); within each structure is a corresponding part of the membranous labyrinth (semicircular ducts, two saclike structures in the vestibule, and cochlear duct). Sound vibrations are transmitted from the middle ear through the membrane-covered oval window to fluid in the snail-shell-shaped cochlea, whose motion stimulates hair cells in the cochlea. The hair cells trigger nerve impulses that travel to the brain, which interprets them as sound. The vestibule and semicircular canals also have organs with hair cells. Those in the vestibule indicate the head's position with respect to the rest of the body (see proprioception). The three semicircular canals, at right angles to each other, signal motion of the head in three-dimensional space. Continued stimulation after motion stops causes a mismatch with visual input, experienced as dizziness or motion sickness
internal part of the ear where the cochlea and semicircular canals are located (organs which transform sound waves into auditory signals and aid in balance)