Tragus (ear)
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| Tragus | |
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| The auricula. Lateral surface. | |
| Gray's | subject #229 1034 |
The tragus is a small pointed eminence of the external ear, situated in front of the concha, and projecting backward over the meatus. Its name comes from the Greek: tragos, goat, and is descriptive of its general covering on its under surface with a tuft of hair, resembling a goat's beard. The nearby antitragus projects forwards and upwards.
Because the tragus face rearwards, it aids in collecting sounds from behind. These sounds are delayed more than sounds arriving from the front, assisting the brain to sense front vs. rear sound sources.
In a positive fistula test (for the presence of a fistula from cholesteatoma to the labyrinth), pressure on the tragus causes vertigo or eye deviation by inducing movement of perilymph.
[edit] Additional images
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Horizontal section through left ear; upper half of section.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- MedlinePlus Image 1126
- lesson3 at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (externalear) (#7)
This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.
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