17 June 2004
Hearing: High gain
Outer hair cells of the mammalian cochlea act as local amplifiers, providing the ear's high sensitivity and frequency selectivity. The first step in their operation is the conversion of mechanical deflection of the stereocilia (hair-like protrusions of the cell) into electrical signals. The precise relationship between mechanical input and hair-cell responses is obscure. Now, using a preparation based on an excised and bisected cochlea, that relationship can be examined in near 'physiological' conditions. Recordings from outer hair cells in the cochlea show that micromechanical gain is very high; transducer currents and receptor potentials are significantly higher than expected, and strongly dependent on cochlear location.
Mechanoelectrical transduction of adult outer
hair cells studied in a gerbil hemicochlea
DAVID Z. Z. HE, SHUPING JIA & PETER DALLOS
Nature 429, 766–770 (2004); doi:10.1038/nature02591
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