title: Tectorial Membrane Traveling Waves Underlie Sharp Auditory Tuning in Humans.
abstract: Our ability to understand speech requires neural tuning with high frequency resolution, but the peripheral mechanisms underlying sharp tuning in humans remain unclear. Sharp tuning in genetically modified mice has been attributed to decreases in spread of excitation of tectorial membrane traveling waves. Here we show that the spread of excitation of tectorial membrane waves is similar in humans and mice, although the mechanical excitation spans fewer frequencies in humans-suggesting a possible mechanism for sharper tuning.
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Shirin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Farrahi
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Roozbeh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghaffari
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Jonathan B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Sellon
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Hideko H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Electronic address: freeman@mit.edu.
authors.forename: Dennis M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Freeman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D051379:Mice; D009038:Motion; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D013016:Sound; D013045:Species Specificity; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013680:Tectorial Membrane / Q000502:physiology*; D014783:Viscosity