The Competition between the Noise and Shear Motion Sensitivity of Cochlear Inner Hair Cell Stereocilia

Acoustical excitation of the organ of Corti induces radial fluid flow in the subtectorial space (STS) that excites the hair bundles (HBs) of the sensory inner hair cell of the mammalian cochlea. The inner hair cell HBs are bathed in endolymphatic fluid filling a thin gap in the STS between the tectorial membrane and the reticular lamina. According to the fluctuation dissipation theorem, the fluid viscosity gives rise to mechanical fluctuations that are transduced into current noise. Conversely, the stochastic fluctuations of the mechanically gated channels of the HBs also induce dissipation.

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