Mechanical preprocessing of amplitude-modulated sounds in the apex of the cochlea.

Sound-evoked vibrations of individual Hensen's cells in the apical turn of a living guinea pig cochlea were recorded using a displacement-sensitive laser interferometer. The mechanical responses to amplitude-modulated (AM) tones were investigated, and are shown to be physiologically vulnerable. In the healthy cochlea, the AM responses are demodulated strongly at both moderate and high sound pressure levels. In the less healthy and postmortem cochlea, AM demodulation is weaker and is only seen at high stimulus levels. The physiologically vulnerable component of the demodulation is considered to be an analogue of the baseline position shifts that can be seen in the apical cochlea's responses to pure-tone stimuli, and is likely to originate in the cellular motility of the cochlea's outer hair cells.