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The utricle and saccule are part of the balancing system (membranous labyrinth) in the vestibule of the bony labyrinth (small oval chamber). [1] They use small stones and a viscous fluid to stimulate hair cells to detect motion and orientation. The utricle detects linear accelerations and head-tilts in the horizontal plane.
The saccule, like the utricle, provides information to the brain about head position when it is not moving. [1] The structures that enable the saccule to gather this vestibular information are the hair cells. The 2 by 3 mm patch of hair cells and supporting cells are called a macula.
The hair cells are the primary auditory receptor cells and they are also known as auditory sensory cells, acoustic hair cells, auditory cells or cells of Corti. The organ of Corti is lined with a single row of inner hair cells and three rows of outer hair cells. The hair cells have a hair bundle at the apical surface of the cell.
In mammalian outer hair cells, the varying receptor potential is converted to active vibrations of the cell body. This mechanical response to electrical signals is termed somatic electromotility; [13] it drives variations in the cell's length, synchronized to the incoming sound signal, and provides mechanical amplification by feedback to the traveling wave.
Overlying the hair cells and their hair bundles is a gelatinous layer and above that layer is the otolithic membrane. [1] The utricle serves to measure horizontal accelerations and the saccule responds to vertical accelerations. The reason for this difference is the orientation of the macula in the two organs. The utricular macula lie ...
The hair cells are mechanoreceptors that release a chemical neurotransmitter when stimulated. Sound waves moving through fluid flows against the receptor cells of the organ of Corti. The fluid pushes the filaments of individual cells; movement of the filaments causes receptor cells to become open to receive the potassium -rich endolymph.
Not from the actual human body, of course, but from the anatomical diagrams that purported to represent it. Goss was the esteemed editor of the 25th edition of the seminal classic Gray’s Anatomy . Internationally lauded as the authority on all things anatomical, Gray’s Anatomy had been considered essential for any would-be physician to own ...
Within the ampulla is a mound of hair cells and supporting cells called crista ampullaris. These hair cells have many cytoplasmic projections on the apical surface called stereocilia which are embedded in a gelatinous structure called the cupula. As the head rotates, the duct moves, but the endolymph lags behind owing to inertia. This deflects ...