PROGRESS IN MECHANICS OF THE COCHLEA

The mechanics of cochlea is the core of hearing sciences and physiological acoustics, as well as a representative biomechanics topic. The study of cochlear mechanical properties could promote the related studies of psychoacoustics. This paper reviews the mechanics of the cochlea in two parts, the macro and micro mechanics, focusing on the development trend of the cochlear mechanics and application prospects. It is suggested that the cochlea is a part of the inner ear and its mechanical response provides us with many aspects of our amazing sensitive and selective hearing, with an accurate frequency response from 20~20 000 Hz and with the stimulus signal being able to be amplified more than 4 000 times.