Research
Research Laboratories
Cochlear Biophysics
principle investigators: David C. Mountain and Allyn E. Hubbard
The long range goal of the Boston University Cochlear Biophysics Laboratory is to improve understanding of the hearing process through a synergistic combination of engineering and physiological techniques:
- Identify, quantify, and model the mechanisms responsible for mechanical sensitivity and frequency selectivity of the mammalian cochlea (inner ear). Recent experimental evidence suggests that the outer hair cells of the cochlea act as electromechanical amplifiers which increase hearing sensitivity one-hundred fold. Our efforts are directed towards confirming this hypothesis and clarifying our understanding of the underlying mechanisms.
- As a byproduct of their normal function, the outer hair cells also produce acoustic energy which can be measured in the external ear canal (otoacoustic emissions). These otoacoustic emissions have provided scientists and clinicians with a unique noninvasive tool to study cochlear function. In spite of hundreds of studies on otoacoustic emissions, the details of their production and their propagation back to the ear canal are not well understood. Our research, which builds on extensive experience with otoacoustic emissions, cochlear electrophysiology and biomechanics, and computer simulation, is expected to shed new light on this important clinical tool.
