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How the ear's works work

Nature volume 341, pages 397–404 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

The senses of hearing and equilibrium depend on sensory receptors called hair cells which can detect motions of atomic dimensions and respond more than 100,000 times a second. Biophysical studies suggest that mechanical forces control the opening and closing of transduction channels by acting through elastic components in each hair cell's mechanoreceptive hair bundle. Other ion channels, as well as the mechanical and hydrodynamic properties of hair bundles, tune individual hair cells to particular frequencies of stimulation.

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  1. Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, 5323 Harry Mines Boulevard, Dallas, Texas, 75235, USA

    A. J. Hudspeth

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Hudspeth, A. How the ear's works work. Nature 341, 397–404 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/341397a0

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