Inner ear hair cells and stereocilia. Computer artwork of the inner ear, showing the organ of Corti, the auditory sense organ, which lines the spiral of the cochlea in the inner ear. A row of hair cells can be seen, with a crescent-shaped arrangement of stereocilia on top of each one. These stereocilia usually touch the tectorial membrane above (not seen), so as to detect any tiny movements in the membrane resulting from sound-induced pressures in the inner ear fluids. These movements are then relayed to the brain as electrical impulses, where they are deciphered as sound.