M399_27b 362..366

362 NATURE | VOL 399 | 27 MAY 1999 | www.nature.com lateral interactions may allow basilar membrane motion to be selectively enhanced at a particular location where passive vibration is maximal. In nonlinear systems, 10% feedback can have enormous consequences. The likely increase in OHC coupling with increasing frequency, supported by morphological evidence, may explain the finding that tuning is sharper at higher characteristic frequencies. In this model, distortion in the cochlea arises from the very process that promotes greater frequency resolution. M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .