Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T22:17:45.565Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fluid mechanics of the cochlea. Part 1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2006

M. B. Lesser  and
D. A. Berkley
M. B. Lesser
Affiliation:
Bell Telephone Laboratories, Whippany, New Jersey Present address: Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, N.J., U.S.A.
D. A. Berkley
Affiliation:
Bell Telephone Laboratories, Whippany, New Jersey Present address: Inst. CERAC, S.A., Ecublens, Switzerland.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The physiology of the cochlea (part of the inner ear) is briefly examined in conjunction with a description of the ‘place’ theory of hearing. The role played fluid motions is seen to be of importance, and some attempts to bring fluid mechanics into a theory of hearing are reviewed. Following some general fluid-mechanical considerations a potential flow model of the cochlea is examined in some detail. A basic difference between this and previous investigations is that here we treat an enclosed two-dimensional cavity as opposed to one-dimensional and open two-dimensional models studied earlier. Also the two time-scale aspect of the problem, as a possible explanation for nonlinear effects in hearing, has not previously been considered. Thus observations on mechanical models indicate that potential flow models are applicable for times of the same scale as the frequency of the driving acoustic inputs. For larger time scales mechanical models show streaming motions which dominate the qualitative flow picture. The analytical study of these effects is left for a future paper.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , 8 February 1972 , pp. 497 - 512
Copyright
© 1972 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Batchelor G. K.1967 An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics. Cambridge University Press.
Békésy G. von1960 Experiments in Hearing. McGraw-Hill.
Cooley, J. W. & Tukey, J. W. 1965 An algorithm for the machine calculation of complex Fourier series. Math. Comp., 19, 297.Google Scholar
Goblick, T. J. & Pfeiffer R. R.1969 Time domain measurements of cochlear nonlinearities using combination click stimuli. J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 46, 924.Google Scholar
Goldstein J. L.1967 Auditory nonlinearity. J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 41, 676.Google Scholar
Hause A. D.1963 Digital simulation of the cochlea. Paper delivered to the 66th meeting of the Acoust. Soc. Am.
Helmholtz H. Von1895 On the Sensations of Tone. A. J. Ellis.Google Scholar
Lesser, M. B. & Berkley D. A.1970 A simple mathematical model of the cochlea. Proc. 7th Ann. S.E.S. Meeting (ed. A. C. Eringen). To be published.
Morse, P. M. & Ingard K. U.1968 Theoretical Acoustics. McGraw-Hill.
Peterson, L. C. & Bogert B. P.1950 A dynamical theory of the cochlea. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 22, 369.Google Scholar
Ranke O. F.1950 Theory of operation of the cochlea: a contribution to the hydrodynamics of the cochlea. J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 22, 772.Google Scholar
Riley N.1967 Oscillatory viscous flows, review and extension. J. Inst. Math. Appl., 3, 419.Google Scholar
Sceechter R. S.1967 The Variational Method in. Engineering. McGraw-Hill.
Stoker J.1957 Water Waves. Interscience.
Tonndorf J.1959 Beats in cochlear models. J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 31, 608.Google Scholar
Wever, E. G. & Lawrence M.1953 Physiological Acoustics. Princeton University Press.
Zwislociii J.1948 Theorie der Schneckenmechanik. Acta Oto-Laryng., 72 (suppl.), 76.Google Scholar
Zwislocxi J.1965 Analysis of some auditory characteristics. In Handbook of Mathematical Psychology, vol. III (eds. R. D. Luce, R. R. Bush & E. Galanter). Wiley.