Related papers: Overt and covert paths for sound in the auditory s…

Current scientific consensus holds that sound is transmitted, solely mechanically, from the tympanum to the cochlea via ossicles. However this theory does not explain the hearing extreme quality regarding high frequencies in mammals. So, we…

The consensus, according to which the transmission of sound from the tympanum to the Outer Hair Cells is solely mechanical, is problematic, especially with respect to high pitched sounds. We demonstrate that the collagenous fibers of the…

A hearing sensation arises when the elastic basilar membrane inside the cochlea vibrates. The basilar membrane is typically set into motion through airborne sound that displaces the middle ear and induces a pressure difference across the…

Electrical signals play the primary role in rapid communication among organs, tissues and cells in biosystems. We have analyzed and discussed three phenomena of electrical communication in biosystems, including direction-changing movement…

A new theory of mammalian hearing is presented, which accounts for the auditory image in the midbrain (inferior colliculus) of objects in the acoustical environment of the listener. It is shown that the ear is a temporal imaging system that…

Most sounds of interest consist of complex, time-dependent admixtures of tones of diverse frequencies and variable amplitudes. To detect and process these signals, the ear employs a highly nonlinear, adaptive, real-time spectral analyzer:…

Biological signaling is imagined as a combination of activation and transport. The former is triggered by local molecular interactions and the latter is the result of molecular diffusion. However, other fundamental physical principles of…

Sound is detected and converted into electrical signals within the ear. The cochlea not only acts as a passive detector of sound, however, but can also produce tones itself. These otoacoustic emissions are a striking manifestation of the…

The sensitivity and frequency selectivity of hearing result from tuned amplification by an active process in the mechanoreceptive hair cells. In most vertebrates the active process stems from the active motility of hair bundles. The…

The extraordinary sensitivity of the mammalian inner ear has captivated scientists for decades, largely due to the crucial role played by the outer hair cells (OHCs) and their unique electromotile properties. Typically arranged in three…

A learning path is proposed starting from the characterization of a sound wave, showing how human beings emit articulate sounds in the language, introducing psychoacoustics, i.e. how the sound interacts with ears and it is transduced into…

Currently, biological signaling is envisaged as a combination of activation and movement, triggered by local molecular interactions and molecular diffusion, respectively. However, we here suggest, that other fundamental physical mechanisms…

Because the cochlear is very small and complex, vibration data of the whole basement membrane are not yet available from existing experiments, To address this question, this work technically adopts the mathematical and biological methods to…

Cells are often considered input-output devices that maximize the transmission of information by converting extracellular stimuli (input) via signaling pathways (communication channel) to cell behavior (output). However, in biological…

In response to a sound stimulus, the inner ear emits sounds called otoacoustic emissions. While the exact mechanism for the production of otoacoustic emissions is not known, active motion of individual hair cells is thought to play a role.…

This work reviews the human auditory system, elucidating some of the specialized mechanisms and non-linear pathways along the chain of events between physical sound and its perception. Customary relationships between frequency, time, and…

Biomimicry is a powerful science that takes advantage of nature's remarkable ability to devise innovative solutions to challenging problems. In this work, we use asymptotic methods to develop the mathematical foundations for the exchange of…

Non-reciprocal devices, with one-way transport properties, form a key component for isolating and controlling light in photonic systems. Optomechanical systems have emerged as a potential platform for optical non-reciprocity, due to ability…

The authors describe how acoustic phonons can directly tunnel through vacuum and, therefore, transmit energy and conduct heat between bodies that are separated by a vacuum gap. This effect is enabled by introducing a coupling mechanism,…

Nonlinear physics plays an essential role in hearing, from sound signal generation to sound sensing to the processing of complex sound environments. We demonstrate that the evolution of the biological hearing sensors demonstrates a dramatic…