I "EAR" you "NOSE" something! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Auricles

The human ear includes the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The outer ear is comprised of the fleshy tissue called the pinna or auricle. The auricle is made up of a single piece of fibrocartilage. The earlobe has a tremendous potential for elasticity. Daryl Belmares, a pastor in Austin Texas claimed to have the world's largest stretched earlobes at a whopping 5.5 inches.

Answer: Stapes

The air-filled cavity found behind the tympanic membrane is considered to be the middle ear. This structure includes three small bones known as the ossicles. The middle ear is connected to the throat by the Eustachian tube. The stapes is the lightest and the smallest of all the bones in the body.

It gets its name from its resemblance in shape to a stirrup. The stapes receives vibrations via the incus bone and then transmits the vibrations to the oval window.

Answer: Incus

The three ossicles include the stapes which is known as the stirrup, the malleus which is known as the hammer, and the incus which is known as the anvil. Incus is Latin for anvil. The bone was first described by Alessandro Achillini and thought to be a fourth ossicle due to the fact it has a short limb and a long limb which gives it the anvil shape.

The stapes, incus and malleus combine to make it possible for vibrations to be transferred into recognizable sound.

Answer: Cochlea

The word cochlea comes from the Latin meaning spiral shell. The cochlea is hollow and conical. The structures of the cochlea include three chambers: scala vestibule, scala tympani, and the scala media. The cochlea takes sound in the form of vibrations which in turn cause the stereocilia (hairs) to move. These stereocilia convert vibrations into nerve impulses which travel to the brain in order to be interpreted as sound.

Answer: 20 Hz to 20 kHz

Although there can be some small deviations, the average human being has a hearing range between 20Hz and 20 kHz. Typically both the upper and lower limits will decrease with age. Women are less likely to experience hearing loss as dramatically as males in old age. Interestingly, cats have slightly better hearing ranges than dogs (often over 10.5 octaves).

Answer: Nasal Septum and Ethmoid Bone

The shape of the nose is indeed determined by the ethmoid bone and the nasal septum. The nose itself is composed mostly of cartilage and separates the two nostrils. Interestingly, the nose is formed early in embryonic development due to the fact the newborn breathes through their nose during the first 6 weeks of life.

Answer: Philtrum

The philtrum serves no real function but is believed to be an aesthetic holdover of the evolutionary process. The human philtrum is also called the infranasal depression. In studying boys with various autism spectrum disorders, researchers have found wider than average philtrums exist among members of this disability group. In terms of superstition, people in the Philippines believe that those born without a philtrum are mythical vampire beasts called aswangs.

Answer: Leptorrhine

Based upon race and ethnic origin the different subunits of the nose (dorsum, alae, coumella, and lobule) are configured differently. African nasal physiognomy is dominated by a flat wide nose (platyrrhine). Asiatic noses tend to be low and wider (subplatyrrhine). People with Hispanic origins conversely have a more narrow-sided nose (paraleptorrhine). The Caucasian nose is quite narrow and is described in terms of being leptorrhine.

Answer: Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty is the term for a surgical procedure that changes the shape and structure of the nose. Otoplasty is plastic surgery for the ear lobe, blepharoplasty is surgery for the eyelids, and genioplasty is the term for pursuing chin implants.

Answer: Otolaryngologist

Doctors who study the nose, ear, and throat are called otolaryngologists. In the United States of America almost 50% of all doctor visits relate to problems with the nose, ear, or throat. Sometimes these doctors are called ENTs. Otolaryngology is derived from the Greek for ear (otos), Greek for nose (rhis), Greek for larynx (larynx), and of course the Greek for study (logia).