Cochlear amplifier gain oscillates via underdamped OHC calcium cycling

Evidence

These LF OHC receptor potentials are not attenuated by the low-pass characteristic of the OHC membrane. Patuzzi ( 2011 ) postulated that large, LF receptor potentials activate voltage-sensitive, L-type Ca2+ channels in the OHC membrane. This results in an increase of intracellular Ca2+ in OHCs. Ca2+ -induced Ca2+ release and -uptake mechanisms, with different time courses, can then cause slow, underdamped oscillations of OHC cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations, modulating the gain of the cochlear amplifier (Patuzzi 2011 ). — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 3744

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the cochlear amplifier concept and OHC electromotility literature from earlier chapters on inner-ear mechanics.
• DEEPTHINKING: The underdamped calcium-oscillation mechanism modulating cochlear amplifier gain is a dense, multi-step physiological chain worth sitting with.