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The Cochlea

The Cochlea

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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A Behavioral Assay for Mechanosensation of MARCM-based Clones in Drosophila melanogaster

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Transducer-based force generation explains active process in Drosophila hearing.

Björn Nadrowski¹, Jörg T Albert, Martin C Göpfert

¹Sensory Systems Lab, Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Weyertal 119, 50923 Cologne, Germany. bjoern.nadrowski@uni-koeln.de

Current Biology : CB

|September 16, 2008

Summary

The active process in Drosophila ears, like vertebrate hair cells, is explained by the interplay of transduction channels and adaptation motors. This finding demonstrates that molecular forces within auditory systems can account for macroscopic ear performance.

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Area of Science:

Auditory Neuroscience
Mechanobiology
Insect Physiology

Background:

Drosophila auditory neurons possess an active, force-generating process enhancing ear performance, similar to vertebrate hair cells.
This process is potentially driven by the molecular apparatus of auditory transduction, involving force-gated channels, adaptation motors, and gating springs.
While this explains hair bundle properties, its role in macroscopic auditory system performance remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between auditory transducer dynamics and the macroscopic behavior of the Drosophila auditory system.
To determine if the molecular components of auditory transduction are sufficient to explain the active performance of the fly's ear.

Main Methods:

Development of a simplified model of the Drosophila hearing organ, incorporating transduction modules and a harmonic oscillator representing the sound receiver.
In vivo measurements of the fly's antennal sound receiver's responses to various stimuli, including force steps and sinusoidal inputs.
Analysis of electrical compound responses in the afferent nerve.

Main Results:

The devised model quantitatively explains the active performance of the Drosophila ear.
The model accurately captures the receiver's displacement responses to force steps and its free fluctuations.
The model also accounts for the receiver's response to sinusoidal stimuli, nonlinearity, activity, cycle-by-cycle amplification, and afferent nerve electrical responses.

Conclusions:

The interaction between transduction channels and adaptation motors fully explains the active processes observed in the Drosophila auditory system.
Transducer-based amplification is extended from hair cells to the ears of flies.
Forces generated by transduction modules are sufficient to account for the active phenomena in auditory systems like the fly ear.