?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=The+Cochlear+Amplifier+is+a+Surface+Acoustic+Wave+Resonator&rft.creator=Bell%2C+Andrew&rft.subject=Biophysics&rft.subject=Theoretical+Biology&rft.description=A+companion+paper+(Bell%2C+2001)+formulated+a+model+of+the+cochlea+as+a+surface+acoustic+wave+(SAW)+resonator.+This+supporting+paper+seeks+to+give+a+working+account+of+the+sensing+elements+in+the+ear+and+how+they+operate+together+to+create+a+SAW+resonator.+A+key+feature+of+any+such+device+is+that+the+interdigital+transducers+alternate+in+polarity%2C+an+arrangement+ideal+for+launching+and+detecting+surface+waves.+Translated+to+the+ear%2C+the+three+rows+of+outer+hair+cells+(OHCs)+are+conjectured+to+be+the+interdigital+transducers.+In+the+simplest+(degenerate)+SAW+resonator%2C+only+a+single+set+of+three+electrodes+is+required+to+create+resonance+between+the+fingers%2C+a+situation+presumed+to+apply+in+the+cochlea%2C+where+OHC2+is+assumed+to+respond+in+antiphase+to+OHC1+and+3.+The+antiphasic+response+is+not+to+displacement%2C+but+to+intracochlear+fluid+pressure.+An+examination+of+the+literature+interprets+OHCs+as+responding+directly+to+pressure+via+their+cell+bodies%2C+and+two+populations%2C+with+opposite+response+polarities%2C+are+observed.+Whether+an+OHC+behaves+in+one+way+or+the+other+depends+on+its+membrane+potential+and+turgor+pressure%2C+so+it+is+conjectured+that+OHC1%2F3+operate+at+a+membrane+potential+of+about+%C2%9670+mV%2C+whereas+in+OHC2+it+is+about+%C2%9650+mV.+At+low+sound+pressure+levels%2C+two+mechanisms+for+creating+an+electrical+response+in+OHCs+are+identified%3A+one+involves+the+piezoelectric+response+of+the+OHC+wall+to+pressure%2C+the+other+a+transient+sodium+current+which+acts+as+a+biological+%C2%91transistor%C2%92+to+amplify+the+transducer+voltage.&rft.date=2001-08&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F1734%2F3%2FSAW.pdf&rft.identifier=++Bell%2C+Andrew++(2001)+The+Cochlear+Amplifier+is+a+Surface+Acoustic+Wave+Resonator.++%5BPreprint%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F1734%2F