%0 Journal Article
%T Spontaneous voltage oscillations and response dynamics of a Hodgkin-Huxley type model of sensory hair cells
%A Alexander B Neiman
%A Kai Dierkes
%A Benjamin Lindner
%A Lijuan Han
%A Andrey L Shilnikov
%J The Journal of Mathematical Neuroscience
%D 2011
%I Springer
%R 10.1186/2190-8567-1-11
%X Perception of sensory stimuli in auditory and vestibular organs relies on active mechanisms at work in the living organism. Manifestations of this active process are high sensitivity and frequency selectivity with respect to weak stimuli, nonlinear compression of stimuli with larger amplitudes, and spontaneous otoacoustic emissions [1]. From a nonlinear dynamics point of view, all these features are consistent with the operation of nonlinear oscillators within the inner ear [2,3]. The biophysical implementations of these oscillators remain an important topic of hearing research [1,4-6].Several kinds of oscillatory behavior have experimentally been observed in hair cells, which constitute the essential element of the mechano-electrical transduction (MET) process. In hair cells, external mechanical stimuli acting on the mechano-sensory organelle, the hair bundle, are transformed into depolarizing potassium currents through mechanically gated ion channels (MET channels). This current influences the dynamics of the basolateral membrane potential of the hair cell and may thus trigger the release of neurotransmitter. In this way, information about the sensory input is conveyed to afferent neurons connected to the hair cell.Self-sustained oscillations in hair cells occur on two very different levels. First, the mechano-sensory hair bundle itself can undergo spontaneous oscillations and exhibit precursors of the above-mentioned hallmarks of the active process in response to mechanical stimuli [5,7-9]. Second, self-sustained electric voltage oscillations across the membrane of the hair cell have been found. This study is concerned with the second phenomenon, the electrical oscillations.It has been known for a long time that the electrical compartment of hair cells from various lower vertebrate species, e.g., birds, lizards, and frogs, exhibits damped oscillations in response to step current injections. This electrical resonance has been suggested as a contributing factor to
%U http://www.mathematical-neuroscience.com/content/1/1/11