The Remarkable Outer Hair Cell: Proceedings of a Symposium in Honour of W. E. Brownell

Jonathan F Ashmore; John S Oghalai; James B Dewey; Elizabeth S Olson; Clark E Strimbu; Yi Wang; Christopher A Shera; Alessandro Altoè; Carolina Abdala; Ana B Elgoyhen; Ruth Anne Eatock; Robert M Raphael

doi:10.1007/s10162-022-00852-4

The Remarkable Outer Hair Cell: Proceedings of a Symposium in Honour of W. E. Brownell

J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2023 Apr;24(2):117-127. doi: 10.1007/s10162-022-00852-4. Epub 2023 Jan 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ UCL Ear Institute, University College London, London, UK.
² Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
³ Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City, USA.
⁴ Caruso Department of Otolaryngology and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
⁵ Caruso Department of Otolaryngology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
⁶ Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres" (INGEBI), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
⁷ Department of Neurobiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA.
⁸ Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, USA. rraphael@rice.edu.

Abstract

In 1985, Bill Brownell and colleagues published the remarkable observation that cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) express voltage-driven mechanical motion: electromotility. They proposed OHC electromotility as the mechanism for the elusive "cochlear amplifier" required to explain the sensitivity of mammalian hearing. The finding and hypothesis stimulated an explosion of experiments that have transformed our understanding of cochlear mechanics and physiology, the evolution of hair cell structure and function, and audiology. Here, we bring together examples of current research that illustrate the continuing impact of the discovery of OHC electromotility.

Keywords: Cochlear amplifier; Efferent; Electromotility; Optical coherence tomography; Otoacoustic emissions; Prestin.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Animals
Cochlea*
Hair Cells, Auditory, Outer* / physiology
Hearing / physiology
Mammals

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding