Our ears are complex anatomical structures that are separated into three main parts, called the outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear. The outer ear is the only visible part of the ear and is primarily used for funneling sound from the environment into the ear canal. From there, sound travels into the middle ear, where it vibrates the eardrum and three tiny bones, called the ossicles, that transmit sound energy to the inner ear. The energy continues to travel to the inner ear, where it is received by the cochlea. The cochlea is a structure within the ear that is shaped like a snail shell, and it contains the Organ of Corti, where sensory "hair cells" are present that can sense the sound energy. When the cochlea receives the sound, it amplifies the signal detected by these hair cells and transmits the signal through the auditory nerve to the brain.
While the ears are responsible for receiving sound from the environment, it is the brain that perceives and makes sense of these sounds. The auditory cortex of the brain is located within a region called the temporal lobe and is specialized for processing and interpreting sounds.

License information: CC BY 4.0
MPAA: G
Go to source: https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2018.00063