Mean length of papilla in cochlea

Value 0.83 mm
Organism Turtle Trachemys scripta elegans
Reference Crawford AC, Fettiplace R. The mechanical properties of ciliary bundles of turtle cochlear hair cells. J Physiol. 1985 Jul364: 359-79. p.368 2nd paragraphPubMed ID4032304
Method "The object of the work to be described is a quantitative analysis of the mechanical properties of the hair bundles. The approach has been to measure the bending of a single bundle in the turtle cochlea by attaching it to a flexible glass fibre, and monitoring the fibre's motion through its shadowing of a light beam falling on a photodiode array."
Comments "The resonant frequency of a hair cell changed systematically with its position in the papilla: frequencies increased approximately exponentially from the lagenar to the stapedial end, an e-fold change in frequency occupying about 0.25mm. The mean length of the papilla in ten preparations was 0.83mm. Similar observations have been made previously on hair cells from the isolated ear in this animal (Crawford & Fettiplace, 1980) where the space constant was found to be about 0.14mm. Thus the tonotopic organization of the papilla does not seem to be greatly disturbed by opening the cochlear duct or removing the tectorial membrane."
Entered by Uri M
ID 111040