Medical Term Definition

Air Conduction

Air conduction is the transmission of sound through the air to the inner ear via the usual pathway involving the outer ear, eardrum, and middle ear.

When a sound is produced, sound waves travel through the air and enter the external auditory canal. They cause the eardrum to vibrate, and the three ossicles in the middle ear transmit these vibrations toward the cochlea in the inner ear.

Within the cochlea, specialized sensory cells convert the resulting mechanical vibrations into electrical signals that travel through the auditory nerve to the brain, where they are interpreted as sound.

Air conduction is the usual pathway through which people hear sounds from their surroundings. Hearing tests often compare air conduction with bone conduction to help determine whether hearing loss is associated with impaired sound transmission through the outer or middle ear, reduced inner-ear function, or both.

QUICK FACT

Air-conduction hearing tests commonly use headphones or earphones to deliver sounds at different frequencies and volumes.

COMMONLY CONFUSED WITH

  • Bone conduction: Transmits vibrations through the bones of the skull to stimulate the cochlea without relying on the usual air-conduction pathway through the outer ear, eardrum, and ossicles.
  • Conductive hearing loss: Hearing loss caused by impaired sound transmission through the outer or middle ear, which may reduce air-conduction hearing relative to bone-conduction hearing.

SEE ALSO