full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Jim Hudspeth: The beautiful, mysterious science of how you hear

Unscramble the Blue Letters


And here's how it works. This rat trap represents an ion channel. It has a pore that psseas potassium ions and calcium ions. It has a little molecular gate that can be open, or it can be closed. And its status is set by this elastic band which represents that portein fmiaelnt. Now, imagine that this arm represents one stereocilium and this arm rtsrneeeps the adjacent, shorter one with the eilatsc band between them. When sound energy impinges upon the hair bundle, it pushes it in the direction towards its taller edge. The sliding of the stereocilia puts tension in the link until the channels open and ions rush into the cell. When the hair buldne is pushed in the opposite direction, the channels close. And, most itnrlamtopy, a back-and-forth motion of the hair bundle, as ensues during the application of acoustic waves, aeellanrtty opens and closes the cnahenl, and each opnenig admits millions and millions of ions into the cell. Those ions constitute an electrical current that excites the cell. The eotaixictn is passed to a nerve fiebr, and then propagates into the brain. ntoice that the intensity of the sound is represented by the magnitude of this response. A louder sound pushes the hair bundle farther, oenps the channel lngoer, lets more ions in and gives rise to a bigger response.

Open Cloze


And here's how it works. This rat trap represents an ion channel. It has a pore that ______ potassium ions and calcium ions. It has a little molecular gate that can be open, or it can be closed. And its status is set by this elastic band which represents that _______ ________. Now, imagine that this arm represents one stereocilium and this arm __________ the adjacent, shorter one with the _______ band between them. When sound energy impinges upon the hair bundle, it pushes it in the direction towards its taller edge. The sliding of the stereocilia puts tension in the link until the channels open and ions rush into the cell. When the hair ______ is pushed in the opposite direction, the channels close. And, most ___________, a back-and-forth motion of the hair bundle, as ensues during the application of acoustic waves, ___________ opens and closes the _______, and each _______ admits millions and millions of ions into the cell. Those ions constitute an electrical current that excites the cell. The __________ is passed to a nerve _____, and then propagates into the brain. ______ that the intensity of the sound is represented by the magnitude of this response. A louder sound pushes the hair bundle farther, _____ the channel ______, lets more ions in and gives rise to a bigger response.

Solution


  1. importantly
  2. channel
  3. alternately
  4. passes
  5. protein
  6. opens
  7. represents
  8. bundle
  9. opening
  10. notice
  11. fiber
  12. longer
  13. filament
  14. elastic
  15. excitation

Original Text


And here's how it works. This rat trap represents an ion channel. It has a pore that passes potassium ions and calcium ions. It has a little molecular gate that can be open, or it can be closed. And its status is set by this elastic band which represents that protein filament. Now, imagine that this arm represents one stereocilium and this arm represents the adjacent, shorter one with the elastic band between them. When sound energy impinges upon the hair bundle, it pushes it in the direction towards its taller edge. The sliding of the stereocilia puts tension in the link until the channels open and ions rush into the cell. When the hair bundle is pushed in the opposite direction, the channels close. And, most importantly, a back-and-forth motion of the hair bundle, as ensues during the application of acoustic waves, alternately opens and closes the channel, and each opening admits millions and millions of ions into the cell. Those ions constitute an electrical current that excites the cell. The excitation is passed to a nerve fiber, and then propagates into the brain. Notice that the intensity of the sound is represented by the magnitude of this response. A louder sound pushes the hair bundle farther, opens the channel longer, lets more ions in and gives rise to a bigger response.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
hair cells 9
hair cell 8
hair bundle 7
active process 7
elastic band 2
arm represents 2
remarkable features 2
specific frequency 2
public address 2
address system 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
public address system 2

Important Words


  1. acoustic
  2. adjacent
  3. admits
  4. alternately
  5. application
  6. arm
  7. band
  8. bigger
  9. brain
  10. bundle
  11. calcium
  12. cell
  13. channel
  14. channels
  15. close
  16. closed
  17. closes
  18. constitute
  19. current
  20. direction
  21. edge
  22. elastic
  23. electrical
  24. energy
  25. ensues
  26. excitation
  27. excites
  28. fiber
  29. filament
  30. gate
  31. hair
  32. imagine
  33. impinges
  34. importantly
  35. intensity
  36. ion
  37. ions
  38. lets
  39. link
  40. longer
  41. louder
  42. magnitude
  43. millions
  44. molecular
  45. motion
  46. nerve
  47. notice
  48. open
  49. opening
  50. opens
  51. passed
  52. passes
  53. pore
  54. potassium
  55. propagates
  56. protein
  57. pushed
  58. pushes
  59. puts
  60. rat
  61. represented
  62. represents
  63. response
  64. rise
  65. rush
  66. set
  67. shorter
  68. sliding
  69. sound
  70. status
  71. stereocilia
  72. stereocilium
  73. taller
  74. tension
  75. trap
  76. waves
  77. works