Physiology of the Peripheral and Central Hearing System

The hearing system is evaluated in two subcomponents: the peripheral auditory system, which transmits and encodes the acoustic information received from the environment, and the central auditory system, which processes this encoded information. In the peripheral system, there is excellent sound transmission from the outer and middle ear and the associated hydromechanical movements of the inner ear. The organ of Corti, which is the auditory organ, converts this transmission into neural signals at the macro level with the mobility of the stapes in hydromechanical movements, providing a mechanotransductive transformation. At the micro level, the hair cells of the organ of Corti perform this transformation and encode acoustic information. The central auditory system processes this information synchronously in real time in the subcortical auditory nuclei via the auditory nerve and transmits it to the auditory cortex.