Auditory nerve excitation via a non-traveling wave mode of basilar membrane motion.

Basilar membrane (BM) motion and auditory nerve fiber (ANF) tuning are generally very similar, but the ANF had appeared to be unresponsive to a plateau mode of BM motion that occurs at frequencies above an ANF's characteristic frequency (CF). We recorded ANF responses from the gerbil, concentrating on this supra-CF region. We observed a supra-CF plateau in ANF responses at high stimulus level, indicating that the plateau mode of BM motion can be excitatory.