<P> In the auditory system, sound vibrations (mechanical energy) are transduced into electrical energy by hair cells in the inner ear . Sound vibrations from an object cause vibrations in air molecules, which in turn, vibrate your ear drum . The movement of the eardrum causes the bones of your middle ear (the ossicles) to vibrate . These vibrations then pass in to the cochlea, the organ of hearing . Within the cochlea, the hair cells on the sensory epithelium of the organ of Corti bend and cause movement of the basilar membrane . The membrane undulates in different sized waves according to the frequency of the sound . Hair cells are then able to convert this movement (mechanical energy) into electrical signals (graded receptor potentials) which travel along auditory nerves to hearing centres in the brain . </P> <P> In the olfactory system, odorant molecules in the mucus bind to G - protein receptors on olfactory cells . The G - protein activates a downstream signalling cascade that causes increased level of cyclic - AMP (cAMP), which trigger neurotransmitter release . </P> <P> In the gustatory system, our perception of five primary taste qualities (sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami (savoriness)) depends on taste transduction pathways, through taste receptor cells, G proteins, ion channels, and effector enzymes . </P> <P> In the somatosensory system the sensory transduction mainly involves the conversion of the mechanical signal such as pressure, skin compression, stretch, vibration to electro - ionic impulses through the process of mechanotransduction . It also includes the sensory transduction related to thermoception and nociception . </P>

Where does visual and auditory transduction take place