Exploring
Resonance Phenomena in the Auditory System
Rockefeller University
Frequency selectivity and temporal synchronization are important in
many dynamic biological systems. The auditory system in particular is
exquisitely frequency selective and is able to maintain temporal
synchrony through early processing. Through data analysis and modeling,
I will explore the role of the auditory hair cell's bundle mechanics
and the hair cell's ribbon synapse in signal transduction. I will
describe how a chain of monomolecular steps can be made arbitrarily
resonant by the addition of a single autocatalytic feedback step that
pushes the system toward a Hopf bifurcation. By using this result to
model the ribbon synapse, we predict that cooperative vesicle release
could contribute to both frequency selectivity and synchronization at
such synapses.