Abstract
We propose a feedback model for cochlear mechanics in which the hair cell cilia exert an active restoring force in response to displacement. The restoring force is described by first order kinetics and leads to an increase in sensitivity and frequency selectivity of the basilar membrane response. Several different experimental results from our laboratory suggest that hair cell membrane potential plays an important role in this feedback process. They include the measurement of acoustic emissions in response to passing sinusoidal electric current through the cochlea and the modulation of the sound pressure level (SPL) of single tones by electrical current. The latter effect saturates at levels of the acoustic stimulus similar to the level at which the cochlear microphonic saturates. The experimental data suggest that saturation of the transduction process at high SPL could account for the saturating nonlinearity observed by others in basilar membrane displacement. These electromechanical effects may also explain the generation of acoustic harmonics and distortion products as well as the positive cochlear summating potential.
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© 1983 Delft University Press, The Netherlands
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Mountain, D.C., Hubbard, A.E., McMullen, T.A. (1983). Electromechanical Processes in the Cochlea. In: de Boer, E., Viergever, M.A. (eds) Mechanics of Hearing. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6911-7_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6911-7_14
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