Cochlea Charges

[tubeway]

Can somebody explain the various electrical charges in the cochlea and the role of the stria vascularis in maintaining the potential of the endolymph - also is the perilymph electrically neutral?

[Clanad]

Mammalian or non-mammalian?

[tubeway]

Human

[Clanad]

I think the attached article entitled  Molecular Mechanisms of Sound Amplification in the Mammalian Cochlea by Jonathan F. Ashmore, Gw�na�lle S. G. G�l�oc, and Lene Harbott in the Department of Physiology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom will help you;

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/97/22/11759

Especially the discussion of the mechanism of somatic electromotility involving OHC's.  Additionally the discussion of class of candidate proteins that are electrically neutral may be of value...