1: Human ear showing the outer, middle and inner ear regions. For illustrative purposes, the sizes of the inner and middle ear have been exaggerated. From Geisler [1998]. 

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... built-in functions in Matlab [MathWorks Inc. Vers. 7.0] were used to analyze the data whenever possible. The aim of this chapter is to introduce the reader to several aspects of hearing – the logic of how we perceive sounds as well as the physiology of hearing including the auditory pathways in the brain and the anatomy of the ear. In chapter 4 the modeling of the latter will be discussed and described in detail. This chapter starts with the anatomy of the auditory pathway, followed by its physiology. At the end of this chapter, cochlear disfunctions relevant for this study will be presented. The sound pressure wave is conducted from the outer to the middle ear trough the auditory canal (see figure 3.1). In the middle ear the eardrum (tympanic membrane) conducts the pressure wave to a chain of three small bones called ossicles (malleus, incus and stapes). The last of these bones, the stapes, is connected to the oval window, transducing the pressure wave to the inner ear. The ossicles transform the vibration of the tympanic membrane to the motion of the lymph fluid which fills the inner ear. Both the mechanics of the middle ear, and the relation between the areas of the tympanic membrane and of the oval window compensate the difference in density between air and the lymph fluid, so that the pressure wave will not be totally reflected from the fluid but can also penetrate into it. In a phenomenological description, the outer ear and the auditory canal can be regarded as a linear filter acting on the pressure wave. The middle ear then acts as a bandpass filter, decreasing the amplitude of the lowest and highest ...