Cochlear amplification is instantaneous and symmetrically saturating in its transfer.

Evidence

How such a system acts is not yet clear in detail. However, the basic structure may be deduced from the following functional behaviour. … The interaction is effectively considered to be instantaneous and therefore acts by AC-components. It also includes a strong nonlinearity with a transfer characteristic showing almost symmetrical saturations. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 236