Chaos and Complex System Seminar

Robert Fettiplace, UW Department of Neuroscience, will discuss the two mechanisms by which hair cells of the vertebrate inner ear convert sound into electrical signals and compare the voltage-dependent membrane ion channels in other vertebrates to those of mammals, in which a higher frequency range is sampled by augmenting broad mechanical tuning with contractions of outer hair cells. The latter are more vulnerable to damage by noise and ototoxic agents, and the first to be lost with aging.