Dresden 2009 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 27: Poster II

DY 27.11: Poster

Donnerstag, 26. März 2009, 16:00–18:00, P1B

Effect of curvature on the low-frequency fidelity of an active cochlea model — •Verena Sterr and Andreas Engel — Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg

The mammalian cochlea has been studied extensively from various points of view, giving rise to a lot of different models each of which emphasizes certain aspects while neglecting others. However, the fact that the cochleae of most mammals is spiral-shaped has been ignored most of the time, the common interpretation being that coiling merely helps to put the cochlea into limited space.

Only recently has it been discovered, that the coiling causes a redistribution of the wave energy towards the outer wall, thereby enhancing radial shearing of the Basilar membrane in the low-frequency region [1, 2]. This theoretical outcome has been supported by the experimental observation that the hearing thresholds of many mammals can be related systematically to the product of Basilar membrane length and number of spiral turns [2].

Until now, this interesting phenomenon has been examined within the framework of passive linear cochlea models only. In our present work, we focus on the influence of curvature on the active nonlinear model which has been proposed by T. Duke and F. Jülicher [3].

[1] D. Manoussaki, E. K. Dimitriadis, and R. S. Chadwick, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 088701 (2006)

[2] D. Manoussaki et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 105(16), 6162 (2008)

[3] T. Duke, F. Juelicher, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90(15), 158101 (2003)