Hair Cell Generator Potentials

A technique is introduced using a piezoelectric device to stimulate hair cells of a molluscan statocyst while recording their responses intracellularly. Statocyst displacements produced with the technique are calibrated with stroboscopic photography. Properties of the hair cells' response to currents and mechanical stimulation are studied. The hair cell generator potential arises from a conductance increase and, for a certain range, is a logarithmic function of the amplitude of the displacement stimulus.