Abstract
The anatomical mechanisms for processing auditory signals are extremely complex and incompletely understood, despite major advances already made with the use of electron microscopy. A major enigma, for example, is the presence in the mammalian cochlea of a double hair cell receptor system. A renewed attempt to discover evidence of synaptic coupling between the two systems in the primate cochlea, postulated from physiological studies, has failed. However, in the outer spiral bundle the narrow and rigid clefts seen between pairs of presumptive afferent fibers suggest the possibility of dendro-dendritic interaction confined to the outer hair cell system. The clustering of afferent processes within folds of supporting cells subjacent to outer hair cells is in contrast to the lack of such close associations in the inner hair cell region. The difference reinforces the suggestion of functional interaction of some sort between the outer hair cell afferent nerve processes.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Dunn R. A., Morest D. K. Receptor synapses without synaptic ribbons in the cochlea of the cat. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Sep;72(9):3599–3603. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.9.3599. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Press F. Science and technology: the road ahead. Science. 1978 May 19;200(4343):737–741. doi: 10.1126/science.644319. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- SMITH C. A., RASMUSSEN G. L. Recent observations on the olivo-cochlear bundle. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 1963 Jun;72:489–506. doi: 10.1177/000348946307200218. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Spoendlin H. Innervation densities of the cochlea. Acta Otolaryngol. 1972 Feb-Mar;73(2):235–248. doi: 10.3109/00016487209138937. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Spoendlin H. Organisation of the auditory receptor. Rev Laryngol Otol Rhinol (Bord) 1976 Nov;97 (Suppl):453–462. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]