| Citation | Distinguished for his studies on the mechanisms of hair cell action in the mammalian cochlea, and the lateral line system of fishes and amphibians. His early work (1965-1976) examined the efferent innervation of hair cells, and he showed for the first time that efferent activity causes hyperpolarization, and results in the suppression of stimulation caused by active movement of the animal. In 1977 Russell and Sellick recorded intracellularly from the coclear hair cells of living guinea-pigs during acoustic stimulation. This pioneering work of great technical difficulty showed for the first time that the receptors were as sharply tunes as the afferent nerve fibres, and this called into question the supposedly broad tuning of the basilar membrane. Subsequent recordings from outer as well as inner hair cells led Russell to propose a duality of function; the inner hair cells being sensory and the outer hair cells essentially motor. |