Research Results Challenge a Decades-Old Mechanism of How We Hear Sounds

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Research results challenge a decades-old mechanism of how we hear sounds:

Researchers at Linkoping University, Sweden, have made several discoveries on the functioning mechanisms of the inner hair cells of the ear, which convert sounds into nerve signals that are processed in the brain. The results, presented in the scientific journal Nature Communications, challenge the current picture of the anatomical organisation and workings of the hearing organ, which has prevailed for decades. [...]

[...] It has long been known that the outer hair cells are connected to a membrane that rests on top of them. The outer hair cells have hair-like protrusions known as stereocilia that are bent and activated when sound causes the membrane and the hearing organ to vibrate. However, the current view is that the stereocilia of the inner hair cells are not in contact with this membrane, which is known as the tectorial membrane, and that they are stimulated by sounds by a completely different mechanism. It is this model that the new study challenges.

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