The role of fluid inertia in mechanical stimulation of hair cells.

Hair cells, which are the receptor cells of hearing and equilibrium in vertebrates, produce electrical responses when their hair bundles are displaced by sensory stimuli. This paper summarizes the results of a theoretical study of the fluid mechanics of hair-bundle motion. The principal conclusion is that fluid inertia, which has not been included in previous studies, plays a critical role in the mechanics of hair bundles and, hence, in the processes of sensory reception in hair-cell organs.