The mammalian tectorial membrane (in the human ear) is a poorly understood gelatinous structure in the inner ear. Radial (r) forces (double-sided arrows) applied at one location on an isolated tectorial membrane excite waves of motion that propagate longitudinally (l). Analysis of physiological loading effects suggests that these waves can propagate in vivo. Because these waves can stimulate hair cells and interact with the basilar membrane traveling wave, they constitute a distinct mode of cochlear motion, thereby fundamentally changing the way we think about cochlear mechanisms.(See research image immediately above).

As reported in the in the advance online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of October 8, 2007, by lead author graduate student Roozbeh Ghaffari working with EECS Professor Dennis M. Freeman and research scientist Alexander J. Aranyosi, this new mechanism could help explain the ear's remarkable ability to sense and discriminate sounds and its discovery could eventually lead to improved systems for restoring hearing.

Additional Links:

EECS Announcement, Oct. 10, 2007

MIT News Office, Oct. 10, 2007

PNAS online: "Longitudinally propagating traveling waves of the mammalian tectorial membrane"