To enhance weak sounds while compressing the dynamic intensity range, auditory sensory
cells amplify sound-induced vibrations in a nonlinear, intensity-dependent manner. In the …

Georg Békésy laid the foundation for cochlear mechanics, foremost by demonstrating the
traveling wave that is the substrate for mammalian cochlear mechanical processing. He …

The operation of the mammalian cochlea relies on a mechanical traveling wave that is
actively boosted by electromechanical forces in sensory outer hair cells (OHCs). This active …

The intricate, crystalline cytoarchitecture of the mammalian organ of Corti presumably plays
an important role in cochlear amplification. As currently understood, the oblique, Y-shaped …

Detection of low-level sounds by the mammalian cochlea requires electromechanical
feedback from outer hair cells (OHCs). This feedback arises due to the electromotile …

A model of cochlear mechanics is described in which force-producing outer hair cells (OHC)
are embedded in a passive cochlear partition. The OHC mechanoelectrical transduction …

The human ear is a fascinating sensor, capable of detecting pressures over ten octaves of
frequency and twelve orders of magnitudes. Here, following a biophysical model, we …

Although auditory harmonic distortion has been demonstrated psychophysically in humans
and electrophysiologically in experimental animals, the cellular origin of the mechanical …

The cochlea plays a crucial role in mammal hearing. The basic function of the cochlea is to
map sounds of different frequencies onto corresponding characteristic positions on the …

In the fifty years since Békésy was awarded the Nobel Prize, cochlear physiology has
blossomed. Many topics that are now current are things Békésy could not have imagined. In …