Dancing outer hair cell

This post is just another reason why our auditory system is so fascinating. To appreciate this movie, I need to give a short explanation of some auditory structures and their role in hearing.

The cochlea is a snail-shaped structure in the inner ear (beyond your eardrum) that is the sensory organ of hearing. There are microscopic hair cells with stereocilia at the tips within the cochlea that are responsible for moving in response to vibrations. Basically, it is the motion of the sensory hair cells that allows signals to be sent to the brain via the auditory nerve and process sounds we hear.

The image on the right shows a top view of the stereocilia of an outer hair cell in the cochlea. Credit: http://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk

Hair cells are most sensitive and contract at specific frequencies. They can degenerate over our lifetime with age and can also be damaged when we are exposed to very loud sounds, which is why it is important to always protect your ears. UK Scientist, Jonathon Ashmore was able to isolate a single outer hair cell and make it dance! That’s right, dance…presenting you with the DANCING OUTER HAIR CELL!
Read an explanation of movie from Ashmore’s website here: http://www.physiol.ucl.ac.uk/ashmore/hairexpl.htm