Final answer:
Both inner and outer hair cells act as auditory receptor cells, with the inner hair cells playing the primary role in transmitting auditory information to the brain, and the outer hair cells fine-tuning sound frequency responses.
Step-by-step explanation:
The auditory receptor cells in the human ear are the inner hair cells and outer hair cells. The inner hair cells are primarily responsible for conveying auditory information to the brain.
They are the primary sensory receptors for hearing, and approximately 90 percent of the afferent neurons carry information from these inner hair cells. Each inner hair cell makes connections with about 10 or so neurons.
While the outer hair cells are less involved in transmitting auditory information to the brain, constituting connections with only 10 percent of the afferent neurons, they serve to fine tune sound by amplifying and sharpening the frequency responses of the inner hair cells.
Sound waves cause the bending of stereocilia on the hair cells, which is located within the organ of Corti on the basilar membrane of the cochlea.
This bending results in the opening of ion channels, causing depolarization and initiating a neural signal that is transmitted to the auditory nerve.
The auditory information then travels from the cochlea through various parts of the brainstem and eventually reaches the primary auditory cortex in the temporal lobe for processing.