The Biological Role of the Medial Olivocochlear Efferents in Hearing: Separating Evolved Function from Exaptations

Cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) are remarkable, mechanically-active receptors that determine the exquisite sensitivity and frequency selectivity characteristic of the mammalian auditory system. While there are three to four times as many OHCs compared with inner hair cells, OHCs lack a significant...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: David W. Smith, Andreas eKeil
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-02-01
Series:Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnsys.2015.00012/full