Figure 9.

Effects of mechanical loading, obtained experimentally (A) and theoretically (B). The top traces in each of the panels in A represent the oscillation profiles of free bundles. Upon light loading, 100 μN/m, the quiescent intervals disappear (A, left); with an intermediate load, 500 μN/m, the oscillations become fast and small (A, middle); heavy loading, 1000 μN/m, finally suppresses the oscillation (A, right). The simulations of hair bundle oscillations under the same set of loading conditions captures the full range of behavior (B).