Molecular filters in cochlear transduction
Fragment of the tectorial membrane subspace with the endolymp molecule and the stereocilia
of the inner hair cells
1 - the fragment of the tectorial membrane, 2- the stereocilia tips
of the inner hair cells, 3 - the endolymph molecule, V - the velocity of the endlymph flow
induced by the sound wave on the tectorial membrane.
The cochlear transduction is considered for the low level sound intensities.
The basic cochlea mechanics is extended by the new concept of the molecular filters,
which allows discussing the transduction mechanism on the molecular level in the space-time domain.
The molecular filters are supposed to be built on the set of the stereocilia of every inner hair cell.
It is hypothesized that the molecular filters are the sensors in the feedback loop,
which includes also outer hair cells along with the tectorial membrane and uses
the zero compensation method to evaluate the traveling wave shape on the basilar membrane.
Besides the compensation, the feedback loop, being spatially distributed along the cochlea,
takes control over the tectorial membrane strain field generated by the outer hair cells,
and implements it as the mechanism for the automatic gain control in the sound transduction.
The structure of the molecular filter
BM - the basilar membrane, TM - the tectorial membrane, OHC - the outer hair cells,
IHC - the inner hair cells, AC - the auditory cortex
The text of the article "On the molecular filters in cochlea transduction" can be downloaded
from the publisher site of "International Journal of Biology" Vol. 10, No. 4; 2018 -
"http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijb".
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