Exploring Resonance Phenomena in the Auditory System



Daniel Andor


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.