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. 2003 Jan 21;4(2):276–290. doi: 10.1007/s10162-002-3018-6

Disruption of Lateral Efferent Pathways: Functional Changes in Auditory Evoked Responses

Colleen G Le Prell 1,✉, Susan E Shore 1, Larry F Hughes 2, Sanford C Bledsoe Jr 1
PMCID: PMC3202720  PMID: 12943378

Abstract

The functional consequences of selectively lesioning the lateral olivocochlear efferent system in guinea pigs were studied. The lateral superior olive (LSO) contains the cell bodies of lateral olivocochlear neurons. Melittin, a cytotoxic chemical, was injected into the brain stem using stereotaxic coordinates and near-field evoked potentials to target the LSO. Brain stem histology revealed discrete damage to the LSO following the injections. Functional consequences of this damage were reflected in depressed amplitude of the compound action potential of the eighth nerve (CAP) following the lesion. Threshold sensitivity and N1 latencies were relatively unchanged. Onset adaptation of the cubic distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) was evident, suggesting a reasonably intact medial efferent system. The present results provide the first report of functional changes induced by isolated manipulation of the lateral efferent pathway. They also confirm the suggestion that changes in single-unit auditory nerve activity after cutting the olivocochlear bundle are probably a consequence of disrupting the more lateral of the two olivocochlear efferent pathways.

Keywords: lateral superior olive, guinea pig, olivocochlear, compound action potential, distortion product otoacoustic emission

Full Text

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Acknowledgements

Support was provided by NIH-NIDCD P01-DC-00078 (SCB) and F32-DC-00367 (CGL). Acetylcholinesterase immunolabeling was conducted at Eaton–Peabody Laboratory; cochlear tissue preparation was done in R. Altschuler's laboratory; D. Dolan, H. Drewior, C. Ellinger, R. Griffith, K. Halsey, E. Macpherson, J. McLaren, D. Payer, and L. Pierchala provided technical assistance. We thank D. Dolan, M. C. Liberman, and J. Middlebrooks for comments on an earlier version of the paper.

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