title: Modelling cochlear mechanics.
abstract: The cochlea plays a crucial role in mammal hearing. The basic function of the cochlea is to map sounds of different frequencies onto corresponding characteristic positions on the basilar membrane (BM). Sounds enter the fluid-filled cochlea and cause deflection of the BM due to pressure differences between the cochlear fluid chambers. These deflections travel along the cochlea, increasing in amplitude, until a frequency-dependent characteristic position and then decay away rapidly. The hair cells can detect these deflections and encode them as neural signals. Modelling the mechanics of the cochlea is of help in interpreting experimental observations and also can provide predictions of the results of experiments that cannot currently be performed due to technical limitations. This paper focuses on reviewing the numerical modelling of the mechanical and electrical processes in the cochlea, which include fluid coupling, micromechanics, the cochlear amplifier, nonlinearity, and electrical coupling.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: Guangjian
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9240-3020
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Computer Science, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2310-6257
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ayat
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Computer Science, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Teal
mesh_terms: D001489:Basilar Membrane / Q000502:physiology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D006198:Hair Cells, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological