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The acoustic reflex (also known as the stapedius reflex, [1] stapedial reflex, [2] auditory reflex, [3] middle-ear-muscle reflex (MEM reflex, MEMR), [4] attenuation reflex, [5] cochleostapedial reflex [6] or intra-aural reflex [6]) is an involuntary muscle contraction that occurs in the middle ear in response to loud sound stimuli or when the person starts to vocalize.
Examples of the onset and recovery of the acoustic reflex measured with a laser Doppler velocimetry system. Thus, the reflex most likely developed to protect early humans from loud thunder claps which do not happen in a split second. [7] [8] The reflex works by contracting the muscles of the middle ear, the tensor tympani and the stapedial muscle.
The posterior auricular nerve arises from the facial nerve (CN VII). [1] It is the first branch outside of the skull. [2] This origin is close to the stylomastoid foramen.It runs upward in front of the mastoid process.
Tonic tensor tympani syndrome is a disease of the tensor tympani muscle, described by Klochoff et al. in 1971. [1] [2] The tensor tympani muscle is one of the two middle ear muscles that support the three middle ear bones, called the ossicles. TTTS involves tensor tympani muscle activity being reduced, leading to a decrease in the contraction ...
The stapedius reflex of the middle ear muscles helps protect the inner ear from damage by reducing the transmission of sound energy when the stapedius muscle is activated in response to sound. The middle ear still contains the sound information in wave form; it is converted to nerve impulses in the cochlea .
The tympanic nerve (Jacobson's nerve) is a branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve passing through the petrous part of the temporal bone to reach the middle ear. It provides sensory innervation for the middle ear, the Eustachian tube, the parotid gland, and mastoid cells. It also carries parasympathetic fibers destined for the parotid gland.
The auricular branch of the vagus nerve is often termed the Alderman's nerve ("a reference to the old Aldermen of the City of London and their practice of using rosewater bowls at ceremonial banquets, where attendees were encouraged to place a napkin moistened with rosewater behind their ears in the belief that this would aid digestion") or Arnold's nerve (an eponym for Friedrich Arnold).
The only exceptions to this rule are certain spinal-cord lesions and the medullary syndromes, of which Wallenberg syndrome is the best-known example. In this syndrome, a stroke causes a loss of pain-temperature sensation from one side of the face and the other side of the body. This is explained by the anatomy of the brainstem.