Ear page 10

Contents

Yves Clermont, Michael Lalli, Zsuzsanna Bencsath-Makkai
LIGHT-MICROSCOPIC HISTOLOGY ATLAS

17. Ear

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

17.10 Semicircular canal

Version française

Crista in the ampulla of a human semicircular canal.

This field shows the base of a crista with its sensory epithelium covering a ridge of connective tissue and nerve fibres (+).

The stratified epithelium (E) is composed of two classes of cells: basal supporting cells and more superficial sensory hair cells. The sensory hair cells possess clusters of long microvilli located in the gelatinous substance of the cupula (*). These clusters of microvilli are responsible for the fine longitudinal striations of the cupula (red arrow).

The displacement of the cupula, which is due to the back and forth motion of the endolymph caused by the acceleration or deceleration of the body, initiates hair-cell stimulation, which is transmitted to the underlying nerve fibres.

Stain: H–E
Magnification: ×300

The text and images of this Histology Atlas, by Yves Clermont, Michael Lalli & Zsuzsanna Bencsath-Makkai, are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada Licence and cannot be modified without the written permission of the authors. Use of any text or images must carry an acknowledgement which includes a link to the original work.