cupula
Quick Summary
The cupula is a gelatinous structure within the ampullae of the semicircular canals in the inner ear. These canals are part of the vestibular system, which is responsible for maintaining balance and detecting rotational movements of the head.123
When the head rotates, the fluid (endolymph) inside the semicircular canals lags due to inertia. This fluid movement deflects the cupula, which in turn stimulates sensory hair cells. The bending of these hair cells alters the rate of nerve impulses sent to the brainstem, allowing the body to sense changes in angular acceleration and maintain dynamic equilibrium. The cupula's elasticity allows it to return to its resting position after the head stops moving.312
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sensesMechanical senses…jellylike cap known as a cupula. The cupula is displaced by water movement, thus bending the hairs beneath it, resulting in activity in the nerve. In the inner ear of higher vertebrates there are three variants of this basic design, responsible for detecting the direction of gravity, angular rotation, and…
Read More…jellylike cap known as a cupula. The cupula is displaced by water movement, thus bending the hairs beneath it, resulting in activity in the nerve. In the inner ear of higher vertebrates there are three variants of this basic design, responsible for detecting the direction of gravity, angular rotation, and…
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mechanoreceptionMechanoreceptor function…into a jellylike substance (the cupula) that bends in response to water displacement. The cupula stands freely in the surrounding water, grows continuously (e.g., as a human fingernail), and wears away at the top. Sense organs of this type are distributed along definite lateral lines on the head and body…
Read More…into a jellylike substance (the cupula) that bends in response to water displacement. The cupula stands freely in the surrounding water, grows continuously (e.g., as a human fingernail), and wears away at the top. Sense organs of this type are distributed along definite lateral lines on the head and body…
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- movement perceptionVestibular system
…swelling (ampulla) that contains the cupula, a cluster of sensitive hairs embedded in a jellylike mound. As the head moves in the plane of a given canal, motions of the fluid deflect the cupula to produce nerve impulses. These travel through the brainstem to other brain and spinal centres that…
Read More…swelling (ampulla) that contains the cupula, a cluster of sensitive hairs embedded in a jellylike mound. As the head moves in the plane of a given canal, motions of the fluid deflect the cupula to produce nerve impulses. These travel through the brainstem to other brain and spinal centres that…
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semicircular canalFunction…from the crista into the cupula, a jellylike mass that surrounds the hair cells completely, separating them from the endolymph.
Read More…from the crista into the cupula, a jellylike mass that surrounds the hair cells completely, separating them from the endolymph.
Read More- human earDetection of angular acceleration: dynamic equilibrium
…exerting pressure that deflects the cupula in the opposite direction. This deflection stimulates the hair cells by bending their stereocilia in the opposite direction. German physiologist Friedrich Goltz formulated the “hydrostatic concept” in 1870 to explain the working of the semicircular canals. He postulated that the canals are stimulated by…
Read More…exerting pressure that deflects the cupula in the opposite direction. This deflection stimulates the hair cells by bending their stereocilia in the opposite direction. German physiologist Friedrich Goltz formulated the “hydrostatic concept” in 1870 to explain the working of the semicircular canals. He postulated that the canals are stimulated by…
Read More - human earDetection of angular acceleration: dynamic equilibrium
The deflection of the cupula excites the hair cells by bending the cilia atop them: deflection in one direction depolarizes the cells; deflection in the other direction hyperpolarizes them. Electron-microscopic studies have shown how this polarization occurs. The hair bundles in the cristae are oriented along the axis of…
Read MoreThe deflection of the cupula excites the hair cells by bending the cilia atop them: deflection in one direction depolarizes the cells; deflection in the other direction hyperpolarizes them. Electron-microscopic studies have shown how this polarization occurs. The hair bundles in the cristae are oriented along the axis of…
Read More - human earSemicircular canals
…rises a gelatinous structure, the cupula, which extends to the roof of the ampulla immediately above it, dividing the interior of the ampulla into two approximately equal parts. Like the hair cells of the maculae, the hair cells of the cristae have hair bundles projecting from their apices. The kinocilium…
Read More…rises a gelatinous structure, the cupula, which extends to the roof of the ampulla immediately above it, dividing the interior of the ampulla into two approximately equal parts. Like the hair cells of the maculae, the hair cells of the cristae have hair bundles projecting from their apices. The kinocilium…
Read More - vestibular systemSemicircular canals
…rises a gelatinous structure, the cupula, which divides the interior of the ampulla into two approximately equal parts. The hair cells of the cristae have hair bundles projecting from their apices. The kinocilium and the longest stereocilia extend far up into the substance of the cupula, occupying fine parallel channels.…
Read More…rises a gelatinous structure, the cupula, which divides the interior of the ampulla into two approximately equal parts. The hair cells of the cristae have hair bundles projecting from their apices. The kinocilium and the longest stereocilia extend far up into the substance of the cupula, occupying fine parallel channels.…
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