Outer Hair Cells – The Inner Ear's Amplifier
The cochlea, in the inner ear, contains a series of cellular hairs that are responsible for processing the soundwaves that enter through the ear canal so they can be interpreted by the brain. While Inner Hairs collate the details of the sounds we hear, it's the Outer Hair Cells – and their interaction with the motor protein Prestin – that amplify the soundwaves so they can even be processed at all. After soundwaves move down the ear canal, they vibrate the tympanum (or ear drum) which in turn vibrates three bones: the malleus, the incus, and the stapes – which transmit these vibrations to the cochlea. It's inside the cochlea that the Outer Hair Cells (and the Prestin that charges them) react physically when they encounter soundwaves...find out what they look like here!
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