Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 23, 2026

Morphological and Functional Evaluation of Ribbon Synapses at Specific Frequency Regions of the Mouse Cochlea
Published on: May 10, 2019
Frequency sensitivity in mammalian hearing from a fundamental nonlinear physics model of the inner ear
Karlis Kanders1, Tom Lorimer1, Florian Gomez1
1Institute of Neuroinformatics and Institute of Computational Science, University and ETH Zürich Irchel Campus, Winterthurerstr. 190, 8057, Zürich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
A dominant view holds that the outer and middle ear are the determining factors for the frequency dependence of mammalian hearing sensitivity, but this view has been challenged. In the ensuing debate, there has been a missing element regarding in what sense and to what degree the biophysics of the inner ear might contribute to this frequency dependence. Here, we show that a simple model of the inner ear based on fundamental physical principles, reproduces, alone, the experimentally observed frequency dependence of the hearing threshold. This provides direct cochlea modeling support of the possibility that the inner ear could have a substantial role in determining the frequency dependence of mammalian hearing.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
The Cochlea
Hair Cells
Perception of Sound Waves
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same...
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by...
Hearing
Anatomy of the Ear

