“…Following the studies of von Békésy ͑1960͒, there have been a large number of studies that have emphasized components of this stiffness gradient; for example, geometry ͑Gummer et Miller, 1985;Steele, 1987Steele, , 1999Olson and Mountain, 1991;Wada et al, 1998;Emadi et al, 2004͒, boundary conditions ͑Gummer et al, 1981Steele, 1987;Olson and Mountain, 1991;Brass, 2000;Homer et al, 2004;de La Rochefoucauld and Olson, 2007;Liu andWhite, 2008͒, andelastic material properties ͑Voldřich, 1978;Miller, 1985;Steele, 1987Steele, , 1999Olson and Mountain, 1994;Mountain, 1998b, 2007;Wada et al, 1998;Skrodzka, 2005;Liu and White, 2008͒. However, none of these has attempted a complete model of the elastic properties of the BM.…”