Behaviour of a model for the synapse of an auditory receptor cell

The purpose of this paper is to formulate a dynamical model of an auditory hair-cell synapse, coupled to a model of the hair cell's receptor potential through intracellular calcium concentration. The synaptic model includes a mechanism for auditory nerve discharge, which allows for the determination of the afferent nerve's firing rate from stimulation of the receptor cell's hair bundle. We show that the synaptic model has a periodic solution under certain conditions, given a constant current stimulus. We also show that the firing rate undergoes adaptation.