Microstructures in the organ of Corti help outer hair cells form traveling waves along the cochlear coil.

ABSTRACT: According to the generally accepted theory of mammalian cochlear mechanics, the fluid in the cochlear scalae interacts with the elastic cochlear partition to generate transversely oscillating displacement waves that propagate along the cochlear coil. Using a computational model of cochlear segments, a different type of propagating wave is reported, an elastic propagating wave that is independent of the fluid-structure interaction. The characteristics of the propagating wave observed in the model, such as the wavelength, speed, and phase lag, are similar to those observed in the living cochlea. Three conditions are required for the existence of the elastic propagating wave in the cochlear partition without fluid-interaction: 1), the stiffness gradient of the cochlear partition; 2), the elas

SUBMITTER: Nam JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4052350 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature