DOES NONLINEAR CAPACITANCE OF THE OUTER HAIR CELL REALLY IMPROVE ITS HIGH-FREQUENCY RESPONSE

There is a conceptual error in the paper, ''A theoretical basis for th e high-frequency performance of the outer hair cell's receptor potenti al'' by El S. Hassan [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 101, 2129-2134 (1997)]. Corr ecting the error reverses the conclusion, and reveals that the nonline ar capacitance in the outer hair cell is a factor that degrades, rathe r than improves, the high-frequency response of the receptor potential of the outer hair cell. (C) 1997 Acoustical Society of America.