We perceive sounds thanks to ion channels

2003/11/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Anatomia/Fisiologia

Although it was known in the case of sight, smell and touch, so far the molecular base of the ear was totally unknown. No one knew how mechanical stimuli that characterize ear cells, such as sound and motion, became an intelligible electrical signal for the brain. Keep in mind that the body transports information to the brain only as an electrical signal. Well, in this new research they have discovered that the conversion of the signal is made by proteins found in sensory cells of the ear, which have a channel shape.

In fact, sensory cells have a lot of hairy structures to the outside. When they receive a mechanical stimulus, the hairs move and several ions outside the cell enter into the cell. The ion flow is produced from proteins in the form of channels that convert mechanical energy into electrical energy.