Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Investigating Outer Hair Cell Motility with a Combination of External Alternating Electrical Field Stimulation and High-speed Image Analysis
Published on: July 18, 2011
Evoked mechanical responses of isolated cochlear outer hair cells
Abstract:
Intracellular current administration evokes rapid, graded, and bidirectional mechanical responses of isolated outer hair cells from the mammalian inner ear. The cells become shorter in response to depolarizing and longer in response to hyperpolarizing currents in the synaptic end of the cell. The cells respond with either an increase or decrease in length to transcellular alternating current stimulation. The direction of the movement with transcellular stimuli appears to be frequency dependent. Iontophoretic application of acetylcholine to the synaptic end of the cell decreases its length. The microarchitecture of the organ of Corti permits length changes of outer hair cells in a manner that could significantly influence the mechanics of the cochlear partition and thereby contribute to the exquisite sensitivity of mammalian hearing.
Related Concept Videos
Hair Cells
The Cochlea
Unrenewable Cells
Photoreceptors
The retina is composed of several layers and contains specialized cells called photoreceptors. The photoreceptors (rods and cones) change their membrane potential when stimulated by light energy. There are two types of photoreceptors—rods and cones—which differ in the shape of their outer...
Anatomy of the Ear
Auditory Pathway
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...

