hair cells

Hair cells are the sensory receptors of both the auditory system and the vestibular system in all vertebrates. Through mechanotransduction, hair cells detect movement in their environment. In mammals, the auditory hair cells are located within the organ of Corti on a thin basilar membrane in the cochlea of the inner ear. They derive their name from the tufts of stereocilia that protrude from the apical surface of the cell, a structure known as the hair bundle, into the scala media, a fluid-filled tube within the cochlea.  Mammalian cochlear hair cells come in two anatomically and functionally distinct types: the outer and inner hair cells. Damage to these hair cells results in decreased hearing sensitivity, i.e. sensorineural hearing loss, and because human hair cells are incapable of regeneration, this damage is permanent. However, other organisms, such as the frequently studied zebrafish, have regenerating hair cells.