Reticular lamina and basilar membrane vibrations in the basal turn of gerbil and mouse cochleae

Tianying Ren, Wenxuan He

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Low-coherence interferometry in living cochleae has provided valuable information for understanding cochlear micromechanics. A recent measurement of the reticular lamina and basilar membrane vibrations in mouse cochleae, however, is inconsistent with data collected from guinea pig cochleae. To determine whether a species difference accounts for the observed difference, a custom-built heterodyne low-coherence interferometer was used to measure reticular lamina and basilar membrane vibrations at the basal turn of sensitive gerbil and mouse cochleae. For the gerbil and mouse, both the reticular lamina and basilar membrane vibrations show sharp tuning and nonlinear compressive growth near the best frequency. The magnitude of the reticular lamina vibration is significantly greater than that of the basilar membrane vibration not only near the best frequency, but also at low frequencies. The phase of the reticular lamina vibration leads the basilar membrane phase by up to 180-degrees at low frequencies, and this phase lead decreases with frequency, approaching zero near the best frequency. The best frequency of the reticular lamina and basilar membrane vibrations at the cochlear basal turn in mice is significantly higher than that in gerbils. Besides this difference, cochlear micromechanical responses in the gerbil are similar to those in the mouse. Thus, the current results indicate that gerbil and mouse cochleae detect and process sounds likely through a similar micromechanical mechanism.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationTo the Ear and Back Again - Advances in Auditory Biophysics
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the 13th Mechanics of Hearing Workshop
EditorsChristopher Bergevin, Sunil Puria
PublisherAmerican Institute of Physics Inc.
ISBN (Electronic)9780735416703
DOIs
StatePublished - May 31 2018
Event13th Mechanics of Hearing Workshop: To the Ear and Back Again - Advances in Auditory Biophysics, MoH 2017 - St. Catharines, Canada
Duration: Jun 19 2017Jun 24 2017

Publication series

NameAIP Conference Proceedings
Volume1965
ISSN (Print)0094-243X
ISSN (Electronic)1551-7616

Other

Other13th Mechanics of Hearing Workshop: To the Ear and Back Again - Advances in Auditory Biophysics, MoH 2017
Country/TerritoryCanada
CitySt. Catharines
Period6/19/176/24/17

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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