Some Pending Problems in Cochlear Mechanics

The internal workings of the organ of Corti and their relation to basilar-membrane motion are examined with the aid of several simple models. Assuming that cochlear processing may be approximated as a feedback system, it is asked how dynamic variables are related at different points in the feedback loop. Next, considering the system as two coupled resonances, the influence of one of these subsystems upon the other is investigated as a function of coupling between them. Finally, a simple kinematic model of the organ of Corti is examined in the context of transferring displacements from basilar membrane to stereocilia and vice versa.