The function of the outer hair cell in hearing is now perceived as that of a cochlear amplifier that refines the sensitivity and frequency selectivity of the mechanical vibrations of the cochlea.

Top: Rows of healthy sensory hair cells in the mouse inner ear with green stereocilia arcs. Middle: In Rest mutant mice, hair cells are disorganized, and stereocilia barely visible. Bottom ...

The nerve is made up of the neuronal projections that connect the hair cells with the brain and is called the eighth nerve because it is one of 12 nerves that come off the brain in the skull. The ...

This scanning electron micrograph shows sensory outer hair cells, which are required for cochlear amplification and normal hearing. The image at left shows a disorganized sensory hair cell from ...