
A model for the nonlinear mechanism responsible for cochlear amplification
Author(s) -
Kimberly Fessel,
Mark H. Holmes
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
mathematical biosciences and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.451
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1551-0018
pISSN - 1547-1063
DOI - 10.3934/mbe.2014.11.1357
Subject(s) - nonlinear system , mechanism (biology) , physics , beam (structure) , signal (programming language) , acoustics , optics , mechanics , mathematical analysis , biological system , mathematics , computer science , quantum mechanics , programming language , biology
A nonlinear model for the mechanism responsible for the amplification of the sound wave in the ear is derived using the geometric and material properties of the system. The result is a nonlinear beam equation, with the nonlinearity appearing in a coefficient of the equation. Once derived, the beam problem is analyzed for various loading conditions. Based on this analysis it is seen that the mechanism is capable of producing a spatially localized gain, as required by any amplification mechanism, but it is also capable of increasing the spatial contrast in the signal.