Noninvasive in vivo imaging reveals differences between tectorial membrane and basilar membrane traveling waves in the mouse cochlea.

ABSTRACT: Sound is encoded within the auditory portion of the inner ear, the cochlea, after propagating down its length as a traveling wave. For over half a century, vibratory measurements to study cochlear traveling waves have been made using invasive approaches such as laser Doppler vibrometry. Although these studies have provided critical information regarding the nonlinear processes within the living cochlea that increase the amplitude of vibration and sharpen frequency tuning, the data have typically been limited to point measurements of basilar membrane vibration. In addition, opening the cochlea may alter its function and affect the findings. Here we describe volumetric optical coherence tomography vibrometry, a technique that overcomes these limitations by providing depth-resolved displaceme

SUBMITTER: Lee HY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4364183 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature