Amplifying effect of a release mechanism for fast adaptation in the hair bundle.
A "release" mechanism, which has been experimentally observed as the fast component in the hair bundle's response to mechanical stimulation, appears similar to common mechanical relaxation with a damping effect. This observation is puzzling because such a response is expected to have an amplifying role in the mechanoelectrical transduction process in hair cells. Here it is shown that a release mechanism can indeed have a role in amplification, if it is associated with negative stiffness due to the gating of the mechonoelectric transducer channel.
Sul
Bora
B
Section on Biophysics, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland 20850-3211, USA. sulb@nidcd.nih.gov
Iwasa
Kuni H
KH
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D004548:Elasticity; D006198:Hair Cells, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010812:Physical Stimulation