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The basilar membrane is a pseudo-resonant structure [1] that, like the strings on an instrument, varies in width and stiffness. But unlike the parallel strings of a guitar, the basilar membrane is not a discrete set of resonant structures, but a single structure with varying width, stiffness, mass, damping, and duct dimensions along its length.
As the basilar membrane vibrates, each clump of hair cells along its length is deflected in time with the sound components as filtered by basilar membrane tuning for its position. The more intense this vibration is, the more the hair cells are deflected and the more likely they are to cause cochlear nerve firings. Temporal theory supposes that ...
The stria vascularis is a rich bed of capillaries and secretory cells; Reissner's membrane is a thin membrane that separates endolymph from perilymph; and the basilar membrane is a mechanically somewhat stiff membrane, supporting the receptor organ for hearing, the organ of Corti, and determines the mechanical wave propagation properties of the ...
Georg von Békésy (1899–1972) employed the use of a microscope in order to examine the basilar membrane located within the inner-ear of cadavers. He found that movement of the basilar membrane resembles that of a traveling wave; the shape of which varies based on the frequency of the pitch.
The basilar membrane is tonotopic, so that each frequency has a characteristic place of resonance along it. Characteristic frequencies are high at the basal entrance to the cochlea, and low at the apex. Basilar membrane motion causes depolarization of the hair cells, specialized auditory receptors located within the organ of Corti. [6]
Different regions of the basilar membrane in the organ of Corti, the sound-sensitive portion of the cochlea, vibrate at different sinusoidal frequencies due to variations in thickness and width along the length of the membrane. Nerves that transmit information from different regions of the basilar membrane therefore encode frequency tonotopically.
In the cochlea, a shearing movement between the tectorial membrane and the basilar membrane deflects the stereocilia, affecting the tension on the tip-link filaments, which then open and close the non-specific ion channels. [2] When tension increases, the flow of ions across the membrane into the hair cell rises as well.
This motion is accompanied by a shearing motion between the tectorial membrane and the reticular lamina of the organ of Corti, causing the hair bundles that link the two to be deflected, initiating mechano-electrical transduction. When the basilar membrane is driven upward, shear between the hair cells and the tectorial membrane deflects hair ...