Auditory and vestibular information is applied to the hair cell hair bundle as mechanical
energy, and is transduced into electrical energy by gating ion channels. The me. t. channel
has a unitary conductance of 50 pS and a broad selectivity to monovalent cations and to
divalent cations. Ca ions are the most permeable through the channel. The angular
displacement of the hair bundle is the primary gating factor. Circumstantial evidence
indicates the possibility of the direct gating of channels by the membrane deformation itself …