Why is the cochlea in our ears shaped like a spiral? According to new work by scientists in the US, the spiral shape makes us more sensitive to low frequency sounds. Daphne Manoussaki of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, together with Emilios Dimitriadis and Richard Chadwick at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, have calculated that the spiral shape can affect the wave mechanics that take place inside the cochlea. It increases the strength of vibrations produced by sound waves, especially at low pitch.
