In this section
@article{Reichenbach:2018:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005936,
author = {Reichenbach, JDT and Ciganovic, N and Warren, R and Keceli, B and Jacon, S and Fridberger, A},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005936},
journal = {PLoS Computational Biology},
title = {Static length changes of cochlear outer hair cells can tune low-frequency hearing},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005936},
volume = {14},
year = {2018}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - The cochlea not only transduces sound-induced vibration into neural spikes, it also amplifiesweak sound to boost its detection. Actuators of this active process are sensory outer haircells in the organ of Corti, whereas the inner hair cells transduce the resulting motion intoelectric signals that propagate via the auditory nerve to the brain. However, how the outerhair cells modulate the stimulus to the inner hair cells remains unclear. Here, we combinetheoretical modeling and experimental measurements near the cochlear apex to study theway in which length changes of the outer hair cells deform the organ of Corti. We develop ageometry-based kinematic model of the apical organ of Corti that reproduces salient, yetcounter-intuitive features of the organ’s motion. Our analysis further uncovers a mechanismby which a static length change of the outer hair cells can sensitively tune the signal transmittedto the sensory inner hair cells. When the outer hair cells are in an elongated state,stimulation of inner hair cells is largely inhibited, whereas outer hair cell contraction leads toa substantial enhancement of sound-evoked motion near the hair bundles. This novel mechanismfor regulating the sensitivity of the hearing organ applies to the low frequencies thatare most important for the perception of speech and music. We suggest that the proposedmechanism might underlie frequency discrimination at low auditory frequencies, as well asour ability to selectively attend auditory signals in noisy surroundings.
AU - Reichenbach,JDT
AU - Ciganovic,N
AU - Warren,R
AU - Keceli,B
AU - Jacon,S
AU - Fridberger,A
DO - 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005936
PY - 2018///
SN - 1553-734X
TI - Static length changes of cochlear outer hair cells can tune low-frequency hearing
T2 - PLoS Computational Biology
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005936
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/55939
VL - 14
ER -
For more information about the group, please contact:
Dr Dan Goodman
+44 (0)20 7594 6264
d.goodman@imperial.ac.uk