On Thursday Sept 18th at 15.15 in Schrödinger, Anders Fridberger from LiU/LiO will present a seminar titled Mechanisms of near-threshold sound detection.
Abstract
The ear is a remarkably sensitive pressure fluctuation detector. In guinea pigs, behavioral measurements indicate a minimum detectable sound pressure of ~20 µPa at 16 kHz. Such faint sounds move the hearing organ approximately 0.1 nm, a distance similar to the diameter of a hydrogen atom. This high sensitivity is assumed to depend on slowly traveling mechanical waves that are coupled to a cellular active amplifying mechanism, both of which remain poorly known. Using light to create a local stimulus, we show that the hearing organ behaves as an acoustic diode, allowing waves to propagate in only one direction. These waves excite the sensory cells, which filter and amplify the acoustic signal. The performance of the amplifier is controlled partly through active modulation of the stiffness of the sensory cells. These findings represent significant departures from accepted theories of hearing organ function.
Assoc. Prof. Nathaniel D. Robinson
Transport and Separations Group
Department of Physics, Chemisry and Biology (IFM)
Linköping University
581 83 Linköping
Sweden
Phone: +46 13 28 2212
Mobile: +46 734 170164
Visiting address: N319 Fysikhuset
Please visit us at www.ifm.liu.se/surfphys/transport
___________________________________________________________________
This message was sent via the IFM-All@lists.ifm.liu.se mailing list.
More information can be found at: http://lists.ifm.liu.se/listinfo/ifm-all