A research group has revealed that the checkerboard-like arrangement of cells in the inner ear's organ of Corti is vital for hearing. The discovery gives a new insight into how hearing works from the ...

image: Left: The organ of Corti from a normal (control) mouse. The hair cells and their support cells are lined up in an alternating, checkerboard-like pattern. Right: The organ of Corti from a nectin ...

Hair cells that convey sound waves to the brain are separated by support cells, which prevent the hair cells from touching each other. Although it has been thought that this checkerboard arrangement ...