Figure 3.

Schematic diagram of the right external, middle, and internal ear. Sound travels through the external acoustic meatus causing the tympanic membrane to vibrate. The ossicles of the middle ear (malleus, incus, and stapes) amplify and transmit these vibrations through the oval window to the cochlea, an internal ear structure. Vibrations are then translated into neural impulses and carried to the brain via the vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII). CN VIII also transmits information from the vestibular apparatus (balance organ) of the internal ear, which includes the three semicircular canals, and the utricle and saccule (not shown).