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Victoria Balcom

Biology- Ms. Nuvia


December 31, 2015
Artist Statement

My power comes from the strength that playing guitar has given me. Playing guitar has affected
my life in a hugely positive way. I suffer from both depression and anxiety disorder, and I started
playing guitar when I was at my sickest. Playing guitar has helped me manage my anxiety and be
able to play music in front of people, something I never thought I could do, but always wanted
to. I was inspired to write about this because I have never talked about my struggles with mental
illness in a public forum, and I figured that connecting it to guitar would make it easier for me to
talk about it.

I drew an ear with two sound waves coming out of it and connecting to a 16th note that is
underneath them. I chose a 16th note for two reasons. One, because it has the shape of pillars,
which is meaningful to me because music has given me a strong foundation and helped me find
support through the past few years. The sound waves are colored blue and red because blue and
red, to me, represent the two emotions that I feel represent me the best, sadness and love. I
struggled with figuring out a background until one day when I was painting, a song by Talking
Heads started playing. It was from the album Speaking in Tongues, which is one of my
favorite albums ever. As I was looking at the album cover and I realized I really liked the border.
So I decided to color the background a mustard yellow, and have a green scalloped border to
represent that album.

Playing guitar connects to biology in a few different ways. My initial idea for the biological
connection was the hand, and my first draft was of a small hand. But I found it too difficult to
come up with the rest of the image, so I met with Ms. Nuvia and brainstormed other options. Im
really glad I did that because we came up with a host of other connections to biology, such as the
eyes, muscle, nerves, motor, auditory and cognitive functions as well. I chose to focus on
auditory function as my biological connection because listening to music and networking with
people I have met because of music has also helped me manage my anxiety and alleviate some of
my bad feelings, even for just a few minutes.

The Ear is most commonly known as an organ of hearing, although it also contains the organ of
equilibrium. It is part of the auditory system. The ear is divided into three regions, the outer ear,
middle ear and inner ear. The outer, or external, ear consists of the external pinna, which collects
and directs sound down the auditory canal to the Tympanic Membrane, which is more commonly
referred to as the eardrum. When sound travels down the auditory canal, it hits the TM and
vibrates, which then sends the vibrations down through and into the Ossicles and to the Cochlea
(inner ear). The Ossicles consist of three bones, the Malleus, Incus and Stapes. The sound makes
the entire structure of the ossicles vibrate and the Stapes transfers the sound energy into the
Cochlea. The Cochlea is the hearing part of the inner ear, which is also where the Vestibular (or
balance) part of the ear is found.The Cochlea has the appearance of a snail shell and houses three
semicircular canals. Each of the three canals houses fluid and hair cells, but the central canal also
houses the organ of Corti. When the vibratory energy from the Ossicles transfers into the
Cochlea, the force of that energy pushes on the organ of corti, which in turn pushes on the hair

cells. Those hair cells then send impulses into the brainstem, and from there into the temporal
lobe, where the brain processes it. This is how we hear.

The ear is also the organ of balance and equilibrium. Motion of the body is detected in the three
semicircular canals at the top of each inner ear, each one oriented in a different plane. There is a
small chamber at one end of each canal containing hair cells. Whenever the head is moved, the
fluid within the canals lags in its motion so that there is relative motion between the walls and
the endolymph. This stimulates the hair cells to send impulses back to the brain. When the hair
cells send messages that are incongruent with what the eyes are seeing and our body is feeling, as
may occur in a boat or aircraft during rough weather, motion sickness can result.

Some disorders that can affect your hearing and balance include Menieres disease, and
Vestibular Neuronitis (Vertigo). Menieres disease is a disorder usually caused by imbalances of
normal fluid in the ear. This means that the normal amount of fluid in our inner ear is decreasing
or increasing. The fluctuation of the fluid causes vertigo, which is usually accompanied by
nausea and vomiting, and in severe cases, hearing loss. Although the frequency and severity of
Vertigo attacks (Vestibular Neuronitis) can be lowered by use of antiemetics, antihistamines, or
benzodiazepines, there is no treatment for hearing loss caused by this disease. Vestibular
Neuronitis, or Vertigo, is caused by inflammation of the nerves in the semicircular canals. The
semicircular canals control balance. The side effects of Vertigo, mostly nausea and vomiting, can
be treated by use of drugs such as antiemetics, antihistamines, or benzodiazepines, and even
corticosteroids. This type of treatment should only be temporary, because the drugs could make
the attacks and the side effects last longer. Vertigo does not affect your hearing.

As a musician, I try to take caution during shows so I can protect my hearing as much as I can by
using earplugs. Musicians practice and perform in a variety of different settings. They are
exposed to high levels of sound, sometimes for long periods and may require different amounts
of protection depending on sound levels encountered during rehearsals and performance. Some
musicians use one type of attenuator in one ear and one type in the other, depending on the
source and location of the sound. I personally only use earplugs during rehearsals, because while
Im onstage, I need to hear as clear of a sound as I can from myself and my other bandmates. I
also generally dislike the feeling of earplugs, but the pros of wearing them far outweigh the
discomfort. The discomfort is caused by an increase of pressure in the ear canal, which pushes on
the eardrum. Nevertheless, earplugs are an extremely simple way to alleviate some damage to
your hearing.

Other ways to improve and promote ear health include listening to music at a lower volume (60
decibels at most for common mp3s) and by not using cotton swabs to clean your ears. Cotton
swabs can push in ear wax further, which presses it against your eardrum, causing pressure and
discomfort. If this occurs, get it checked out instead of sticking something in your ear.

My power is music. Playing, listening and understanding music has helped me grow into a much
more strong and happy person. Without the ability to hear, my life would be radically different.
Music, much like blood and oxygen, sustains me. It runs in my veins. I can suffer through a few
minutes of minor discomfort if it means that I can keep doing what I believe I was meant to do.

Works Cited
1. Khan Academy Auditory Structure (Parts 1-2) and Auditory Processing
2. EarQ "Anatomy of the Ear | Inner Ear | Middle Ear | Outer Ear."
3. Audiology "How We Hear: External, Middle & Inner Ear
4. Merk Manuals, Lustig, Lawrence R. MD. "Meniere Disease."
5. Merk Manuals, Lustig, Lawrence R. MD. Vestibular Neuronitis.
6. Campbell, Neil A. (1996) Biology. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing
Company, Inc. Menlo Park, CA.
7. Biology Reading- Chapter 29.3- The Senses (From Chapter 29- The Nervous and
Endocrine Systems)

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