Frequency-specific position shift in the guinea pig organ of Corti.

The organ of hearing is tuned as expressed both in the vibratory response of the cochlear partition and in the resulting receptor potentials of the sensory cells. We now demonstrate a sharply tuned response, consisting of a position shift of the surface of the organ of Corti, occurring during the presentation of a tone. The magnitude of the position shift exceeds that of the vibratory response to the stimulus. The shift is most pronounced in the region of the outer hair cells, and its affected by an inhibitor of outer hair cell motility. We conclude that the response is induced by the action of the outer hair cells.