The modiolus is a conical shaped central axis in the

cochlea The cochlea is the part of the inner ear involved in hearing. It is a spiral-shaped cavity in the bony labyrinth, in humans making 2.75 turns around its axis, the modiolus. A core component of the cochlea is the Organ of Corti, the sensory or ...

. The modiolus consists of spongy bone and the cochlea turns approximately 2.75 times around the central axis in humans.Thieme Atlas of Anatomy
/ref> The

cochlear nerve The cochlear nerve (also auditory nerve or acoustic nerve) is one of two parts of the vestibulocochlear nerve, a cranial nerve present in amniotes, the other part being the vestibular nerve. The cochlear nerve carries auditory sensory informatio ...

, as well as

spiral ganglion The spiral (cochlear) ganglion is a group of neuron cell bodies in the modiolus, the conical central axis of the cochlea. These bipolar neurons innervate the hair cells of the organ of Corti. They project their axons to the ventral and dorsal co ...

is situated inside it. The cochlear nerve conducts impulses from the receptors located within the cochlea. The picture shows the

osseous labyrinth The bony labyrinth (also osseous labyrinth or otic capsule) is the rigid, bony outer wall of the inner ear in the temporal bone. It consists of three parts: the vestibule, semicircular canals, and cochlea. These are cavities hollowed out of the ...

. The modiolus is not labeled; it's at the axis of the spiral of the

References

External links

* http://www.univ-brest.fr/S_Commun/Biblio/ANATOMIE/Web_anat/Tete_Cou/Oreille/Modiolus.jpg * http://www.kumc.edu/instruction/medicine/anatomy/histoweb/eye_ear/ear01.htm Ear {{Anatomy-stub