From the outer ear to the nerve: A complete computer model of the peripheral auditory system.

Computer models of the individual components of the peripheral auditory system – the outer, middle, and inner ears and the auditory nerve – have been developed in the past, with varying level of detail, breadth, and faithfulness of the underlying parameters. Building on previous work, we advance the modeling of the ear by presenting a complete, physiologically justified, bottom-up computer model based on up-to-date experimental data that integrates all of these parts together seamlessly. The detailed bottom-up design of the present model allows for the investigation of partial hearing mechanisms and their defects, including genetic, molecular, and microscopic factors. Also, thanks to the completeness of the model, one can study microscopic effects in the context of their implications on hearing as a whole, enabling the correlation with neural recordings and non-invasive psychoacoustic methods. Such a model is instrumental for advancing quantitative understanding of the mechanism of hearing, for investigating various forms of hearing impairment, as well as for devising next generation hearing aids and cochlear implants. • A globally coupled model of cochlear currents with tonotopically specialized hair cells is developed. • We employ a nonlinear 2D description of cochlear mechanics; the amplifier is driven by explicitly computed OHC potentials. • We present a detailed synapse morphology with Ca channel stochastic openings, currents, and diffusion. • The mechanism of hearing is described in detail allowing for modeling of effects of perturbations. • The model serves as a diagnostic tool correlating measurements with various sources of hearing loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]