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Updated: Mar 12, 2026

In Ovo and Ex Ovo Methods to Study Avian Inner Ear Development
Published on: June 16, 2022
Hair cell force generation does not amplify or tune vibrations within the chicken basilar papilla
Anping Xia1, Xiaofang Liu1,2, Patrick D Raphael1
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University, 801 Welch Road, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Abstract:
Frequency tuning within the auditory papilla of most non-mammalian species is electrical, deriving from ion-channel resonance within their sensory hair cells. In contrast, tuning within the mammalian cochlea is mechanical, stemming from active mechanisms within outer hair cells that amplify the basilar membrane travelling wave. Interestingly, hair cells in the avian basilar papilla demonstrate both electrical resonance and force-generation, making it unclear which mechanism creates sharp frequency tuning. Here, we measured sound-induced vibrations within the apical half of the chicken basilar papilla in vivo and found broadly-tuned travelling waves that were not amplified. However, distortion products were found in live but not dead chickens. These findings support the idea that avian hair cells do produce force, but that their effects on vibration are small and do not sharpen tuning. Therefore, frequency tuning within the apical avian basilar papilla is not mechanical, and likely derives from hair cell electrical resonance.
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