Power Dissipation in the Subtectorial Space of the Mammalian Cochlea Is Modulated by Inner Hair Cell Stereocilia

The stereocilia bundle is the mechano-transduction apparatus of the inner ear. In the mammalian cochlea, the stereocilia bundles are situated in the subtectorial space (STS)—a micrometer-thick space between two flat surfaces vibrating relative to each other. Because microstructures vibrating in fluid are subject to high-viscous friction, previous studies considered the STS as the primary place of energy dissipation in the cochlea. Although there have been extensive studies on how metabolic energy is used to compensate the dissipation, much less attention has been paid to the mechanism of energy dissipation. Using a computational model, we investigated the power dissipation in the STS. The model simulates fluid flow around the inner hair cell (IHC) stereocilia bundle. The power dissipation in the STS because of the presence IHC stereocilia increased as the stimulating frequency decreased. Along the axis of the stimulating frequency, there were two asymptotic values of power dissipation. At high frequencies, the power dissipation was determined by the shear friction between the two flat surfaces of the STS. At low frequencies, the power dissipation was dominated by the viscous friction around the IHC stereocilia bundle—the IHC stereocilia increased the STS power dissipation by 50- to 100-fold. There exists a characteristic frequency for STS power dissipation, CF_STS, defined as the frequency where power dissipation drops to one-half of the low frequency value. The IHC stereocilia stiffness and the gap size between the IHC stereocilia and the tectorial membrane determine the characteristic frequency. In addition to the generally assumed shear flow, nonshear STS flow patterns were simulated. Different flow patterns have little effect on the CF_STS. When the mechano-transduction of the IHC was tuned near the vibrating frequency, the active motility of the IHC stereocilia bundle reduced the power dissipation in the STS.