Brownian Motion and the Transmission of Energy in the Cochlea

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Abstract
Brownian motion at the eardrum is only partly due to noise of the air. The main part is due to Brownian motion of the eardrum itself. The apparent flow of energy is close to the absolute threshold of the ear; it is reduced to one half when the ear is provided with an exponential horn. A mechanism is suggested for the excitation of the sense cells by which the disturbances by Brownian motion are appreciably suppressed; in this model the microphonic activity plays an important part. The model is based on some recent measurements of the microphonic activity of the lateral line organs of fishes, which are shortly summarized. It follows from these measurements that the microphonic potentials are related with the tension of the hairs on the sense cells.

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