Figure 3: Schematic showing the relationship between the inner and outer hair cells and the pillar cells from M. unguiculatus. The arrows labelled A, B and C indicates the possible direction of movement caused by the motion of the pillar cells. bm. basilar membrane, dc. outer phalangeal (Deiters) cells, Hc. Hensen cells, IHC. Inner Hair Cell, ipc. inner pillar cell, iphal. inner phalangeal cells, OHC. Outer Hair Cell, opc. outer pillar cell, pha. phalanx of the outer phalangeal cells, sv. synaptic vesicles, VIII. auditory nerve fibres. Note: the apical region of the outer hair cells is in contact with the and the outer hair cells from the first row do not directly contact the outer pillar cell.