CAS PS 222 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Basilar Membrane, Spiral Ganglion, Ganglion Cell
12 Nov 2018
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Document Summary
Once we in the cochlea, the coiled structure in the skull, we need to understand what is inside: a. The location of the peak on the cochlea corresponds to the frequency of the sound. At the base, we have high frequencies, and at the apex we have low frequencies. The organ of corti"s function is determined by the cells in it: outer hair cells amplify the sound, inner hair cells transduce the sound. As the basilar membrane oscillates, the outer hair cells respond by amplifying the oscillation thus ensuring that the inner hair cells send a signal out of the cochlea about the frequency that they are detecting. The inner hair cells are transducing the physical stimulus (the frequency) that the brain can understand. We want to make sure that signals about the sound end up in the brain so that we can use the signals for perception. We have some hints at how frequency is coded.
