Yes. Especially for the outer hair cells, many of which are actually embedded in the tectorial membrane. And though they don't transduce the incoming energy, the tip links for both outer and inner (which do transduce) hair cells are functionally equivalent. I'd bet that some inner hair cells find their stereocilia deflected by the tectorial membrane, but many (most?) do not (which is the general point that Ken is making).
Hugh On Sep 6, 2007, at 10:42 AM, Ken Steele wrote: > Marc Carter wrote: >> In this piece, >> <http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2007/nidcd-05.htm> the author >> starts off with "Our ability to hear is made possible by way of a >> Rube Goldberg-style >> process in which sound vibrations entering the ear shake and jostle a >> successive chain of structures until, lo and behold, they are >> converted >> into electrical signals that can be interpreted by the brain." >> That's a load of bunk. It's not a Rube Goldberg process at all. >> It's >> an incredibly elegant impedance-matching mechanism. It's only "Rube >> Goldberg" if you don't understand what the bones do. >> m >> > > Later in that same piece, the following is stated-- > > "When a noise occurs, such as a car honking or a person laughing, > sound vibrations entering the ear first bounce against the eardrum, > causing it to vibrate. This, in turn, causes three bones in the > middle ear to vibrate, amplifying the sound. Vibrations from the > middle ear set fluid in the inner ear, or cochlea, into motion and > a traveling wave to form along a membrane running down its length. > Sensory cells (called hair cells) sitting atop the membrane "ride > the wave" and in doing so, bump up against an overlying membrane. > When this happens, bristly structures protruding from their tops > (called stereocilia) deflect, or tilt to one side. The tilting of > the stereocilia cause pore-sized channels to open up, ions to rush > in, and an electrical signal to be generated that travels to the > brain, a process called mechanoelectrical transduction." > > Is it true that under ordinary hearing conditions the bending of > the stereocilia is caused by direct contact with the tectorial > membrane? > > Ken > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu > Appalachian State University > Boone, NC 28608 > USA > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > > --- -------------------------------------------- Hugh Foley, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Skidmore College 815 N. Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 518-580-5308 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.skidmore.edu/~hfoley/ ---------------------------------------------- ---
