Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2005 Dec 15.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2004 Oct;12(5):431–438. doi: 10.1097/01.moo.0000134449.05454.82

Figure 3. Stereotypical hair cell.

Figure 3

The boundary between the endolymph and the perilymph is the apical tight junctions between hair cells and supporting cells (the reticular lamina). There are three major functions within all hair cells. (1) Mechanoelectrical transduction occurs at the tips of the stereocilia, allowing ions from the endolymph to enter the cell. (2) Efferent nerve terminals and other ion channels modulate the intracellular voltage inside the hair cell and permit potassium exit from the cell for recycling. (3) Depolarization of the hair cell causes synaptic transmission of the afferent auditory nerve terminals. The neurotransmitter is glutamate. Figure derived from Eatock (1997) [84].