• Open Access

Nanoscale Poroelasticity of the Tectorial Membrane Determines Hair Bundle Deflections

Jonathan B. Sellon, Mojtaba Azadi, Ramin Oftadeh, Hadi Tavakoli Nia, Roozbeh Ghaffari, Alan J. Grodzinsky, and Dennis M. Freeman
Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 028101 – Published 16 January 2019
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Abstract

Stereociliary imprints in the tectorial membrane (TM) have been taken as evidence that outer hair cells are sensitive to shearing displacements of the TM, which plays a key role in shaping cochlear sensitivity and frequency selectivity via resonance and traveling wave mechanisms. However, the TM is highly hydrated (97% water by weight), suggesting that the TM may be flexible even at the level of single hair cells. Here we show that nanoscale oscillatory displacements of microscale spherical probes in contact with the TM are resisted by frequency-dependent forces that are in phase with TM displacement at low and high frequencies, but are in phase with TM velocity at transition frequencies. The phase lead can be as much as a quarter of a cycle, thereby contributing to frequency selectivity and stability of cochlear amplification.

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  • Received 26 March 2018
  • Revised 14 October 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.028101

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Interdisciplinary PhysicsPhysics of Living Systems

Authors & Affiliations

Jonathan B. Sellon1,*, Mojtaba Azadi2,3,4, Ramin Oftadeh3,4, Hadi Tavakoli Nia5, Roozbeh Ghaffari1, Alan J. Grodzinsky3,4,6,7, and Dennis M. Freeman1,6

  • 1Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
  • 2School of Engineering, College of Science and Engineering, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California 94132, USA
  • 3Center for Biomedical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
  • 4Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
  • 5Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA
  • 6Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
  • 7Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

  • *sellon@mit.edu

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Vol. 122, Iss. 2 — 18 January 2019

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