An electrical tuning mechanism in turtle cochlear hair cells

作者：Andrew Charles Crawford, Robert Fettiplace · 发表于：The Journal of Physiology · 年份：1981 · DOI：10.1113/jphysiol.1981.sp013634 · 被引用次数：429 · 研究领域：Hearing, Cochlea, Tinnitus, Genetics、Marine animal studies overview、Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research

1. Intracellular recordings were made from single cochlear hair cells in the isolated half-head of the turtle. The electrical responses of the cells were recorded under two conditions: (a) when the ear was stimulated with low-intensity tones of different frequencies and (b) when current steps were injected through the intracellular electrode. The aim of the experiments was to evaluate the extent to which the cochlea's frequency selectivity could be accounted for by the electrical properties of the hair cells.2. At low levels of acoustic stimulation, the amplitude of the hair cell's receptor potential was proportional to sound pressure. The linear tuning curve, which is defined as the sensitivity of the cell as a function of frequency when the cell is operating in its linear range, was measured for a number of hair cells with characteristic frequencies from 86 Hz to 425 Hz.3. A rectangular current passed into a hair cell elicited a membrane potential change consisting of a damped oscillation superimposed on a step. Small currents produced symmetrical oscillations at the beginning and end of the pulse. Larger currents increased the initial ringing frequency if depolarizing and decreased it if hyperpolarizing.4. For small currents the frequency of the oscillations and the quality factor (Q) of the electrical resonance derived from the decay of the oscillations were close to the characteristic frequency and Q of the hair-cell linear tuning curve obtained from sound presentations....