The Mechanics And Biophysics Of Hearing

This book extends our understanding of the mechanics and biophysics of hearing by bringing together the latest research on the topic by experts in cell and molecular biology, physiology, physics, engineering and mathematics. It contains the proceedings of the 10th International Workshop on the Mechanics of Hearing that was held at Keele University in the United Kingdom at the end of July, 2008. Topics for discussion included theoretical and experimental research at the molecular, cellular and systems levels. Separate sections of the book deal with: the transmission of sound energy to and from the inner ear, and wave propagation within the inner ear; the enhancement of stimulus wave motion that occurs in the inner ear; new measurement techniques that will underpin future innovative studies; the micro-mechanics of the basilar and tectorial membranes and the organ of Corti; cochlear dynamics; sensory hair cells and electromechanical transduction; and sensory hair-bundles and mechano-electrical transduction. The book concludes with the transcript of an open discussion session between the participants of the workshop, highlighting areas of uncertainty and controversy in the field, and pointing the way to the solutions to be sought in future research. This book reviews and synthesizes current concepts and challenges in the biophysics of hearing, and will be an invaluable guide to researchers and students in all branches of auditory science.

Proceedings of a workshop on the physics and biophysics of hearing that brought together experimenters and modelers working on all aspects of audition. Topics covered include: cochlear mechanical measurements, cochlear models, mechanicals and biophysics of hair cells, efferent control, and ultrastructure.

Basic Mechanisms in Hearing is a collection of papers that discusses the function of the auditory system covering its ultrastructure, physiology, and the mechanism's connection with experimental psychology. Papers review the mechanics, morphology, and physiology of the cochlear, including the physiology of individual hair cells and their synapses. One paper examines the combined physiological and anatomical studies of stimulus coding in the mammalian auditory nervous system. The results of these studies pertain to the latency, frequency selectivity, and time pattern of responses to short tone bursts. Other research compare the cochlear nerve, behavioral, and psychophysical frequency selectivity which show that frequency selectivity of the auditory system occurs at the level of the cochlear nerve, becoming downgraded in end-organ deafness. Other papers discuss neural coding at higher levels such as the feature extraction in the auditory system of bats. Some papers also analyze the specialized hearing mechanisms in animals, for example, the echolocation of bats and in some insects, the function of the swimbladder in fish hearing, as well as the "invertebrate frequency analyzer" in the locust ear. Physiologists, neurophysiologists, neurobiologists, general medical practioners, and EENT specialists will find this collection valuable.

This book contains the proceedings of an intenational hearing-research conference held in Germany 2002. The conference brought together experts in genetics, molecular and cellular biology, physiology, engineering, physics, mathematics, audiology and medicine to synthesize and extend our understanding of how the cochlea works. Topics are discussed experimentally and theoretically at the molecular, cellular and whole-organ levels. Some of the topics are: mechanosensitivity of motor proteins; mechanochemical transduction by motor proteins; mechanoelectrical transduction in the stereocilia of hair cells; electromechanical transduction in the stereocilia, soma and synapses of hair cells; multidimensional vibration of the organ of Corti; and otoacoustic emissions. This book will be invaluable to researchers and students in auditory science. Contents: Stereocilia; Hair Cells; Whole-Organ Mechanics; Cochlear Models; Emissions; Comments and Discussions. Readership: Hearing scientists (including medical persons in otolaryngology), biophysicists and molecular' biologists, engineers interested in manufacturing silicon devices (MEMS), and persons interested in modelling biological systems.

The field of cochlear mechanics has received an increasing interest over the last few decades. In the majority of these studies the researchers use linear systems analysis or linear approximations of the nonlinear (NL) systems. Even though it has been clear that the intact cochlea operates nonlinearly, lack of tools for proper nonlinear analysis, and widely available tools for linear analysis still lead to inefficient and possibly incorrect interpretation of the biophysics of the cochlea. An example is the presumption that a change in cochlear stiffness at hair cell level must account for the observed change in tuning (or frequency mapping) due to prestin application. Hypotheses like this need to be addressed in a tutorial that is lucid enough to analyze and explain basic differences. Cochlear Mechanics presents a useful and mathematically justified/justifiable approach in the main part of the text, an approach that will be elucidated with clear examples. The book will be useful to scientists in auditory neuroscience, as well as graduate students in biophysics/biomedical engineering.

The Auditory Periphery: Biophysics and Physiology is an attempt to provide comprehensive and detailed information regarding biophysics and physiology in terms of the peripheral auditory system. Eight detailed chapters are presented in the book where the first and last serve as introduction and summary. The introductory chapter provides background on the anatomy and functional organization of the auditory system. The second chapter illustrates the most common experimental techniques. A whole chapter is dedicated to the discussion of the middle ear, while Chapters 4 and 5 discuss cochlear mechanisms and potentials. The topic most studied but less understood in the operation of the ear is also emphasized in the book, which is the production of distortion. The topic of feedback mechanisms and systems is also covered. This book aims to be of help to various specialists such as biophysicists, bioengineers, physiologists, otolaryngologists, and speech and hearing scientists.

Millions of Americans experience some degree of hearing loss. The Social Security Administration (SSA) operates programs that provide cash disability benefits to people with permanent impairments like hearing loss, if they can show that their impairments meet stringent SSA criteria and their earnings are below an SSA threshold. The National Research Council convened an expert committee at the request of the SSA to study the issues related to disability determination for people with hearing loss. This volume is the product of that study. Hearing Loss: Determining Eligibility for Social Security Benefits reviews current knowledge about hearing loss and its measurement and treatment, and provides an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the current processes and criteria. It recommends changes to strengthen the disability determination process and ensure its reliability and fairness. The book addresses criteria for selection of pure tone and speech tests, guidelines for test administration, testing of hearing in noise, special issues related to testing children, and the difficulty of predicting work capacity from clinical hearing test results. It should be useful to audiologists, otolaryngologists, disability advocates, and others who are concerned with people who have hearing loss.