Cochlea and vestibulococlear nerve. After sound waves enter the ear, vibrating the eardrum and the three ossicles, vibrations pass into the inner ear chamber. Rythmic waves then travel through the snail-shell-shaped cochlea. Inside the cochlea, the waves travel through the perilymph and endolymph, the fluid of the inner ear. Thousands of microscopic hairs in the organ of corti (vibration-sensitive) receive information from these waves and translate them into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain.