Hearing Mechanism Similar to Battery

[daedalus]

A pleasant science daily article.

"To see how the mechanism of hearing resembles a battery, you need to know that the auditory system of the fruit fly contains a protein that functions as a sodium/potassium pump, often called the sodium pump for short, and is highly expressed in a specialized support cell called the scolopale cell.
The scolopale cell is important because it wraps around the sensory endings in the fly's ear and makes a tight extra-cellular cavity or compartment around them called the scolopale space.
"You could think of these compartments as similar to the compartments of a battery that need to be charged up so they can drive electrons through circuits"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130107145707.htm

 

[mock turtle]

daedalus... i wonder if this is why too much salt or too much potassium is known to make the ears ring worse?

best wishes
mt

 

[DezDog]

I've always suspected salt (and coffee), but now I've got to watch the banana intake too? What's a minion to do?

 

[Karl]

We're getting into some fundamental neural science which I have been reading about lately.

Not only auditory nerves, but all neurons use the "Na-K" pump to charge up ions inside the cell membrane. The ion charge is released by a protein that effects the porosity of the cell membrane.

What's interesting is the neurons pump themselves with ions, then suddenly release the charge when a voltage is applied at a dendrite. Then they go back to pumping themselves up again for the next wholop. They can do this as fast as 400 cycles per second.