Modeling auditory transducer dynamics

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on the modeling of auditory transducer dynamics. Theoretical descriptions and computational models of transducer dynamics are presented and discussed. Since the introduction of the gating-spring model of hair cell mechanotransduction in 1983, theories of auditory transducer dynamics have been developed along with the accumulation of electrophysiological and mechanical data. Recent findings suggest that the auditory transduction apparatus might be very similar across vertebrates and invertebrates, and that auditory transducer dynamics can shape the performance of entire hearing organs. The sense of hearing relies on a small number of transduction modules that convert minute mechanical stimuli into electrical signals. Models have been proposed that describe how this transduction works. These models may help to understand the biophysics of mechanoelectrical signal transduction, the contribution of transducer dynamics to auditory signal processing, and to link transducer function and genes.