Analysis and Synthesis of Cochlear Mechanical Function Using Models

Abstract

This chapter begins with a brief review of cochlear anatomy and physiology (see also Echteler, Fay, and Popper 1994), and then progresses through the modeling of the cochlea. We relate anatomy and physiology to models, thus broadening the base of potentially interested readers. Most state-of-the-art cochlear models include an embodiment of outer hair cells that have been shown to change length in response to transmembrane voltage. This electromotility is hypothesized to underlie a process of mechanical amplification that increases the ability of mammals to detect faint sounds by a hundredfold. Chapter 4 (Mountain and Hubbard) of this volume further considers the biophysics of hair cell motility, while in this chapter, the ability of hair cells to provide a feedback force in response to the motion of their own stereocilia is considered to be the engine that underlies the most sensitive aspects of mammalian hearing. This work is not exhaustive, but instead attempts to cover in some detail those models that are either of significant historical interest or represent the current state of the art in cochlear modeling. We attempt to interpret the current significance of both data and models for the reader.