| Popis: |
This study examined with SEM the stereocilia of inner hair cells in the juvenile C57BL/6J mouse. Three measures were sought: the number of stereocilia per hair cell, and stereocilia height and width in the three rows on each hair cell. The number of stereocilia per hair cell decreased from base to apex. Conversely, the height of the tallest row increased by 300%, the middle row by 100%, and the shortest row by 30% from base to apex. Stereocilia width remained fairly constant across the cochlea. The total stereocilia surface area per hair cell increased by 143% from the base to the apex. However, the approximate surface area shielded from the extracellular fluid environment, because the surface of two adjacent stereocilia were in contact with one another, was found to be nearly a constant fraction of the total stereocilia surface area, across the cochlea. The height variations of the tallest stereocilia may be related to the frequency‐resolving properties of the cochlea, while the constant fraction of hidd... |
