The membrana basilaris plays an important role in the theory of traveling wave. It originates from
the ectoblast of the connective tissue, and is bereft of both afferent or efferent innervation. Vibrations
of the membrana basilaris formed into a transverse wave occur together with the organ of Corti and
a band of connective tissue on the inferior membrane surface. Vibrations take place in a fluid which
has suppressive properties. The length and the mass of the membrana basilaris in mammals and birds
are very different and there is no relationship between the membrane basilaris length and the length
of the sound wave, especially in the range of low frequencies. Small sound intensities, supraliminal,
have amplitudes within the limits of a few picometers upon the entrance into the auditory meatus. This
amplitude disappears in cochlear fluids and cannot reach the receptor through cochlear fluids. It cannot
be intensified by OHC contractions, since there is no depolarization of the external acoustic cell. Short
sounds, whose duration time is equal to tenth parts of milliseconds, are perceived by the receptor and
recognized is the frequency of those waves, although they do not generate any resonance with the
membrana basilaris. Attention was paid to molecular, intracellular transformations responsible for the
transfer of information and intracellular amplification. An important role in those processes is played by
ion channels of sodium, potassium, calcium and chlorine in the lateral and inferior wall of the acoustic
cell. They are responsible for the polarization and depolarization of a cell. Underlined is the role of
calcium in the signal transmission and its amplification in an acoustic cell.
