Figure 9
Sensitivity of the hair cell membrane potential to an external mechanical force applied to the hair bundle. (a) Sensitivity plotted as a function of stimulus frequency, i.e., frequency tuning curves, for values of b and gK1 as indicated. Symbols correspond to sensitivity values as computed using a sinusoidal stimulus with amplitude F0 = 0.1 pN. Solid lines correspond to a computation of the sensitivity on the basis of Equation 7 for a random Gaussian force that was band-limited to 200 Hz and had a standard deviation of σ s = 1 pN. (b) Sensitivity as a function of the amplitude of the sinusoidal external force. Values of b and gK1 as indicated. As stimulus frequency we used that of the respective maximal sensitivity in (a) (frequency of maximal linear response). Other parameters are the same as in Figure 8.