The voltage-sensitive motor protein and the Ca2+-sensitive cytoskeleton in developing rat cochlear outer hair cells

M Beurg1, Y Bouleau, D Dulon

  • 1Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire de l'Audition, EMI INSERM 99-27, Université de Bordeaux 2, Hôpital Pellegrin, Bat PQR, 33076 Bordeaux, France.

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The cochlea is a coiled structure in the inner ear that contains hair cells—the sensory receptors of the auditory system. Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea by small bones attached to the eardrum called the ossicles, which vibrate the oval window that leads to the inner ear. This causes fluid in the chambers of the cochlea to move, vibrating the basilar membrane.
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Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
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