The cochlear amplifier requires nonlinear, level-dependent elements to model.

Evidence

Even though the circuit shown in Figure 13.9 is linear and time-invariant, the active role of the cochlear amplifier may be simulated by including negative damping elements (Zweig, 1991) and other non-linear and level-dependent elements (Shera, 2001). For instance, the detectability of amplitude modulation (Figure 10.14) cannot be modelled without accounting for the level dependency of the tuning curves. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1638

Categorization

• QUESTION: What exactly does negative damping represent physically, and how does it map to the cochlear amplifier’s active gain?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1638