Auditory pathway: A sensory pathway that

A sensory pathway that carries peripheral sensations to the brain is referred to as an ascending pathway, or ascending tract. The sensory pathway of audition ascends through three brainstem nuclei. Audition begins by traveling along the vestibulocochlear nerve, which synapses with neurons in the cochlear nuclei of the superior medulla. Schematically, this pathway is short (only 3 to 4 relays), fast (with large myelinated fibers), it ends in the primary auditory cortex. The pathway carries messages from the cochlea, and each relay nucleus does a specific work of decoding and integration. For details, see below. Learn about the auditory pathway from receptors to cortex, the involvement of different nuclei and areas, and the applied anatomy of hearing. The presentation covers the anatomy of the organ of corti, the cochlear nuclei, the inferior colliculus, the medial geniculate body, the auditory radiation, and the auditory cortex. The auditory and vestibular pathways are anatomically related but discrete pathways that permit conscious perception of and reaction to sound and spatial orientation.