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Information about Labyrinth (inner Ear)

Latinlabyrinthus vestibularis
subject #232 1047
Arterylabyrinthine artery
MeSH Labyrinth
Dorlands/Elsevier l_01/12474346
For more uses of the word labyrinth, see Labyrinth (disambiguation)


The labyrinth is a system of fluid passages in the inner ear, including both the cochlea which is part of the auditory system, and the vestibular system which provides the sense of balance. It is named by analogy with the mythical maze that imprisoned the Minotaur, because of its appearance.

The vestibule is the region of the inner ear where the semicircular canals converge, close to the cochlea (the hearing organ). The vestibular system works with the visual system to keep objects in focus when the head is moving. Joint and muscle receptors also are important in maintaining balance. The brain receives, interprets, and processes the information from these systems that control our balance.

Pathology

Interference with or infection of the labyrinth can result in a syndrome of ailments called Labyrinthitis. The symptoms of Labyrinthitis include temporary nausea, disorientation, vertigo, and dizziness. Labyrinthitis can be caused by viral infections, bacterial infections, physical blockage of the inner ear, or due to decompression sickness.

Anatomical details

Top image is antero-lateral and bottom image is postero-medial.
  1. Lateral semicircular canal; 1’, its ampulla;
  2. Posterior canal; 2’, its ampulla.
  3. Superior canal; 3’, its ampulla.
  4. Conjoined limb of superior and posterior canals (sinus utriculi superior).
  5. Utricle. 5’. Recessus utriculi. 5”. Sinus utriculi posterior.
  6. Ductus endolymphaticus.
  7. Canalis utriculosaccularis.
  8. Nerve to ampulla of superior canal.
  9. Nerve to ampulla of lateral canal.
  10. Nerve to recessus utriculi (in top image, the three branches appear conjoined). 10’. Ending of nerve in recessus utriculi.
  11. Facial nerve.
  12. Lagena cochleæ.
  13. Nerve of cochlea within spiral lamina.
  14. Basilar membrane.
  15. Nerve fibers to macula of saccule.
  16. Nerve to ampulla of posterior canal.
  17. Saccule.
  18. Secondary membrane of tympanum.
  19. Canalis reuniens.
  20. Vestibular end of ductus cochlearis.
  21. Section of the facial and acoustic nerves within internal acoustic meatus (the separation between them is not apparent in the section).

See also

 •  • [ e]
Sensory system: Auditory and Vestibular systems
Outer earPinna (Helix, Antihelix, Tragus, Antitragus, Earlobe) • Ear canal
Middle earEardrum • Ossicles (Malleus, Incus & Stapes) • Stapedius • Tensor tympani • Eustachian tube (Torus tubarius)
Inner ear/LabyrinthBony labyrinth (Vestibule) • Membranous labyrinth
Oval window • Helicotrema • Round window
Cochlea: Spiral ganglion • Modiolus • Cochlear duct/scala media (Endolymph, Stria vascularis, Spiral ligament, Organ of Corti) • Scala vestibuli and Scala tympani (Perilymph)
Reissner's/vestibular membrane • Basilar membrane • Tectorial membrane
Organ of Corti: Hair cells • Stereocilia • Sulcus spiralis (externus, internus) • Limbus spiralis
Vestibular systemStatic/translations: Utricle (Macula) - Saccule (Macula, Endolymphatic sac, Endolymphatic duct) - Kinocilium - Otolith
Kinetic/rotations: Semicircular canals (Superior, Posterior, Horizontal) • Cupula • Ampullae (Crista ampullaris)
Brain (auditory)Cochlear nerve VIII → Cochlear nuclei → Superior olivary nuclei → Lateral lemniscus → Inferior colliculi → Medial geniculate nuclei → Primary auditory cortex
Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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Arteries are muscular blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart.[1] All arteries, with the exception of the pulmonary and umbilical arteries, carry oxygenated blood.

The circulatory system is extremely important for sustaining life.
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The labyrinthine artery (auditory artery, internal auditory artery), a long slender branch of the basilar artery, arises from near the middle of the artery; it accompanies the acoustic nerve through the internal acoustic meatus, and is distributed to the internal ear.
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Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a huge controlled vocabulary (or metadata system) for the purpose of indexing journal articles and books in the life sciences. Created and updated by the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), it is used by the MEDLINE/PubMed
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Elsevier, the world's largest publisher of medical and scientific literature, forms part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has substantial operations in the UK, USA and elsewhere.
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The Labyrinth was an elaborate maze in Greek mythology constructed by the artificer Daedalus to hold the Minotaur.

Labyrinth may also mean:
  • Labyrinth (film), a 1986 fantasy film directed by Jim Henson

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System (from Latin systēma, in turn from Greek σύστημα systēma) is a set of entities, real or abstract, where each entity interacts with, or is related to, at least one other
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The inner ear is the bony labyrinth, a system of passages comprising two main functional parts:
  • the organ of hearing, or cochlea
  • and the vestibular apparatus, the organ of balance that consists of three semicircular canals and the vestibule.

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The cochlea is the auditory portion of the inner ear. Its core component is the Organ of Corti, the sensory organ of hearing, which is distributed along the partition separating fluid chambers in the coiled tapered tube of the cochlea.
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The auditory system is the sensory system for the sense of hearing.

Ear

Main article: Ear

Outer ear

Main article: Outer ear

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The vestibular system, or balance system, is the sensory system that provides the dominant input about our movement and orientation in space. Together with the cochlea, the auditory organ, it is situated in the vestibulum in the inner ear (Figure 1).
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Equilibrioception or sense of balance is one of the physiological senses. It allows humans and animals to walk without falling. Some animals are better in this than humans, for example allowing a cat (as a quadruped using its inner ear and tail) to walk on a thin fence.
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vestibule is the central part of the osseous labyrinth, and is situated medial to the tympanic cavity, behind the cochlea, and in front of the semicircular canals.

It is somewhat ovoid in shape, but flattened transversely; it measures about 5 mm.
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The vestibular system, or balance system, is the sensory system that provides the dominant input about our movement and orientation in space. Together with the cochlea, the auditory organ, it is situated in the vestibulum in the inner ear (Figure 1).
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Labyrinthitis
Classification & external resources

ICD-10 H 83.0
ICD-9 386.3

DiseasesDB 29290

MeSH C09.218.568.315 Labyrinthitis is a balance disorder.
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MeSH C21.866.120.248 Decompression sickness (DCS), the diver’s disease, the bends, or caisson disease is the name given to a variety of symptoms suffered by a person exposed to a decrease (nearly always after a big increase) in
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The lateral or horizontal canal (external semicircular canal) is the shortest of the three canals.

It measures from 12 to 15 mm., and its arch is directed horizontally backward and lateralward; thus each semicircular canal stands at right angles to the other two.
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Ampulla may refer to:
  • A dilated segment in a tubular structure. It is used to describe several anatomical structures:
  • ampulla of uterine tube

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The posterior semicircular canal, vertical like the superior, is directed backward, nearly parallel to the posterior surface of the petrous bone. It is part of the bony labyrinth and is used by the vestibular system to detect rotations of the head in the sagittal plane.
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From the posterior wall of the saccule a canal, the endolymphatic duct, is given off; this duct is joined by the ductus utriculosaccularis, and then passes along the aquaeductus vestibuli and ends in a blind pouch (saccus endolymphaticus) on the posterior surface of the petrous
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The facial nerve is the seventh (VII) of twelve paired cranial nerves. It emerges from the brainstem between the pons and the medulla, and controls the muscles of facial expression, and taste to the anterior two-thirds of the tongue.
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The cochlear nerve (also auditory nerve) is part of the vestibulocochlear nerve, (or 8th cranial nerve) that is found in higher vertebrates. It is a sensory nerve, i.e.
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The basilar membrane within the cochlea of the inner ear is a stiff structural element that separates two liquid-filled tubes that run along the coil of the cochlea, the scala media and the scala tympani (see figure).
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The tympanic membrane, colloquially known as the eardrum, is a thin membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear. Its function is to transmit sound vibrations from the air, conducted through the external acoustic meatus to the ossicles inside the
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From the lower part of the saccule a short tube, the canalis reuniens of Hensen, passes downward and opens into the ductus cochlearis near its vestibular extremity.

See also

  • Victor Hensen

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The cochlear duct (or scala media) is an endolymph filled cavity inside the cochlea, located in between the scala tympani and the scala vestibuli, separated by the basilar membrane and Reissner's membrane (the vestibular membrane) respectively.
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The internal acoustic meatus (also internal auditory meatus) is a canal in the temporal bone of the skull that carries nerves from inside the cranium towards the middle and inner ear compartments.
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