FIGURE 10-8 Anatomy of the Human Ear Sound waves gathered into the outer ear are transduced from air pressure into mechanical energy in the middle ear ossicles then into electrochemical activity in the inner ear cochlea. Inner hair cells embedded in the basilar membrane (the organ of Corti) are tipped by cilia. Movements of the basilar and tectorial membranes displace the cilia, leading to changes in the inner hair cells’ membrane potentials and resultant activity of auditory bipolar neurons.