Abstract
Alfonso Corti described the hearing organ in detail in a monumental work with colored figures in 1851, only 160 years ago. The evolution of the ear began several hundred million years ago. The balance organ was established in its current state quite early, whereas the hearing organ developed late and took a long time to reach its present structure. The inner ear is known as the labyrinth, meaning “maze”; like a maze, this complicated structure in the temporal bone and its functional significance are hard to understand in detail, even in this era of molecular biology.
The inner ear is separated into two portions: the pars superior and the pars inferior. The balance organ belongs to the former, and the hearing organ with the saccule to the latter. In the vestibulum, two otolithic organs reside, separated by a thin membrane called the membrana limitans. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP), a tracer substance, does not spread beyond the membrana limitans to the pars superior when administered to the perilymphatic cistern through the oval window. Conversely, HRP administered to the perilymph of the lateral semicircular canal is confined within the pars superior. This separation is important when we consider drug delivery to the inner ear.
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Nomura, Y., Nomura, Y., Nomura, Y. (2014). Structure of the Inner Ear. In: Morphological Aspects of Inner Ear Disease. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54204-9_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54204-9_1
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