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In mammalian outer hair cells, the varying receptor potential is converted to active vibrations of the cell body. This mechanical response to electrical signals is termed somatic electromotility; [13] it drives variations in the cell's length, synchronized to the incoming sound signal, and provides mechanical amplification by feedback to the traveling wave.
The auditory hair cells in the cochlea are at the core of the auditory system's special functionality (similar hair cells are located in the semicircular canals). Their primary function is mechanotransduction , or conversion between mechanical and neural signals.
The height of hair bundles increases from base to apex and the number of stereocilia decreases (i.e. hair cells located at the base of the cochlea contain more stereo cilia than those located at the apex). [14] Furthermore, in the tip-link complex of cochlear hair cells, tonotopy is associated with gradients of intrinsic mechanical properties. [15]
Tiny cells in the inner ear, called hair cells, are responsible for hearing and balance. States of neuropathic pain, such as hyperalgesia and allodynia, are also directly related to mechanosensation. A wide array of elements are involved in the process of mechanosensation, many of which are still not fully understood.
Hair follicle receptors called hair root plexuses sense when a hair changes position. Indeed, the most sensitive mechanoreceptors in humans are the hair cells in the cochlea of the inner ear (no relation to the follicular receptors – they are named for the hair-like mechanosensory stereocilia they possess); these receptors transduce sound for ...
There are two types of hair cells specific to the auditory system; inner and outer hair cells. Inner hair cells are the mechanoreceptors for hearing: they transduce the vibration of sound into electrical activity in nerve fibers, which is transmitted to the brain. Outer hair cells are a motor structure. Sound energy causes changes in the shape ...
The cochlear amplifier is a positive feedback mechanism within the cochlea that provides acute sensitivity in the mammalian auditory system. [1] The main component of the cochlear amplifier is the outer hair cell (OHC) which increases the amplitude and frequency selectivity of sound vibrations using electromechanical feedback.
For example, the temperature modality is registered after heat or cold stimulate a receptor. Some sensory modalities include: light, sound, temperature, taste, pressure, and smell. The type and location of the sensory receptor activated by the stimulus plays the primary role in coding the sensation. All sensory modalities work together to ...