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How do mechanoreceptors detect touch, balance, and sound?

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Compound eye — Senses Vespid wasps (Vespidae), similar to other insects, have compound eyes that consist of thousands of tiny optical units known as ommatidia, which contain light-sensitive photoreceptor cells.

Mechanoreceptors detect touch, balance, and sound through a process called transduction, where mechanical stimuli are converted into electrical signals in specialized cells.12

Touch

Touch is mediated by various receptors in the skin, such as free nerve endings, Meissner corpuscles, and Pacinian corpuscles. When mechanical contact deforms the skin, it triggers ion channels in the nerve endings to open, allowing ions to enter the cell and generate a receptor potential. If this potential reaches a sufficient threshold, it triggers a nerve impulse.13

Balance and Sound

These senses rely on hair cells, which feature hairlike processes called stereocilia.1
* Balance: In the inner ear, hair cells in the maculae and semicircular canals detect gravity and rotation. Movement of the head displaces gelatinous membranes or fluid, bending the stereocilia. Bending toward a kinocilium excites the cell, while bending away inhibits it.1
* Sound: Sound waves vibrate the basilar membrane in the cochlea, causing a shearing action between the stereocilia and the tectorial membrane. This mechanical movement opens ion channels, depolarizing the cell and stimulating the release of neurotransmitters to send signals to the brain.14