The
tectorial membrane lies atop the tiny hairs that line the inner ear, or cochlea.
Huisman, "
Tectorial membrane injury: frequently overlooked in pediatric traumatic head injury," American Journal of Neuroradiology, vol.
Freeman, "Longitudinally propagating traveling waves of the mammalian
tectorial membrane," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol.
Actual bleeding in the subdural or epidural region is even less common with most cases occurring in the epidural space in children in conjunction with blunt trauma and skull base fracture or
tectorial membrane injury.
Longitudinal sections of guinea pig cochleas subjected to transtympanic neomycin treatment had a basilar membrane with a flat epithelium (B) compared with the control (A) in which the
tectorial membrane directly joined to the whole organ of Corti (H&E).
There is posterior displacement of the
tectorial membrane and compression of the lower pons and medulla.
The Organ of Corti contains hair-like nerve endings anchored on one end but free to respond to changes in fluid pressure and wave back and forth against the roof membrane (
tectorial membrane), where movement is changed to an electrical signal that travels to the brain via the acoustic nerve.