The Mammalian Cochlear Nuclei

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

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2. The Cellular Basis for Signal Processing in the Mammalian Cochlear Nuclei

   1. The Cellular Basis for Signal Processing in the Mammalian Cochlear Nuclei

      • D. Kent Morest

      Pages 1-18

3. Developmental Issues

   1. Front Matter

      Pages N1-N1

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   2. Cell Birth, Formation of Efferent Connections, and Establishment of Tonotopic Order in the Rat Cochlear Nucleus

      • Eckhard Friauf, Karl Kandler

      Pages 19-28

   3. Postnatal Development of Auditory Nerve Projections to the Cochlear Nucleus in Monodelphis Domestica

      • Frank H. Willard

      Pages 29-42

4. Primary Inputs

   1. Front Matter

      Pages N3-N3

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   2. Anatomical and Physiological Studies of Type I and Type II Spiral Ganglion Neurons

      • M. Christian Brown

      Pages 43-54

   3. Topographic Organization of Inner Hair Cell Synapses and Cochlear Spiral Ganglion Projections to the Ventral Cochlear Nucleus

      • Patricia A. Leake, Russell L. Snyder, Gary T. Hradek

      Pages 55-63

   4. Ultrastructural Analysis of Synaptic Endings of Auditory Nerve Fibers in Cats: Correlations with Spontaneous Discharge Rate

      • David K. Ryugo, Debora D. Wright, Tan Pongstaporn

      Pages 65-74

5. Intrinsic Connections

   1. Front Matter

      Pages N5-N5

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   2. Intrinsic Connections in the Cochlear Nuclear Complex Studied in Vitro and in Vivo

      • Robert E. Wickesberg, Donata Oertel

      Pages 75-90

   3. The Synaptic Organization of the Ventral Cochlear Nucleus of the Cat: The Peripheral Cap of Small Cells

      • Nell Beatty Cant

      Pages 91-105

   4. Alterations in the Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus of Cerebellar Mutant Mice

      • Albert S. Berrebi, Enrico Mugnaini

      Pages 107-119

6. Descending Projections

   1. Front Matter

      Pages N7-N7

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   2. Non-Cochlear Projections to the Ventral Cochlear Nucleus: Are they Mainly Inhibitory?

      • Richard L. Saint Marie, E.-Michael Ostapoff, Christina G. Benson, D. Kent Morest, Steven J. Potashner

      Pages 121-131

   3. Non-Primary Inputs to the Cochlear Nucleus Visualized Using Immunocytochemistry

      • Joe C. Adams

      Pages 133-141

   4. Superior Olivary Cells with Descending Projections to the Cochlear Nucleus

      • John M. Zook, Nobuyuki Kuwabara

      Pages 143-151

   5. Descending Projections from the Inferior Colliculus to the Cochlear Nuclei in Mammals

      • Enrique Saldaña

      Pages 153-165

7. Neurotransmitters of the Cochlear Nucleus

   1. Front Matter

      Pages N9-N9

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   2. Localizing Putative Excitatory Endings in the Cochlear Nucleus by Quantitative Immunocytochemistry

      • José M. Juiz, Maria E. Rubio, Robert H. Helfert, Richard A. Altschuler

      Pages 167-177

The presence of sophisticated auditory processing in mammals has permitted perhaps the most significant evolutionary development in humans: that of language. An understanding of the neural basis of hearing is thus a starting point for elucidating the mechanisms that are essential to human communication. The cochlear nucleus is the first region of the brain to receive input from the inner ear and is therefore the earliest stage in the central nervous system at which auditory signals are processed for distribution to higher centers. Clarifying its role in the central auditory pathway is crucial to our knowledge of how the brain deals with complex stimuli such as speech, and is also essential for understanding the central effects of peripheral sensorineural hearing loss caused by, for example, aging, ototoxic drugs, and noise. Ambitious new developments to assist people with total sensorineural deafness, including both cochlear and cochleus nuclear implants, require a detailed knowledge of the neural signals received by the brainstem and how these are processed. Recently, many new data have been obtained on the structure and function of the cochlear nucleus utilizing combinations of anatomical, physiological, pharmacological and molecular biological procedures. Approaches such as intracellular dye-filling of physiologically identified neurons, localization of classical neurotransmitters, peptides, receptors and special proteins, or gene expression have opened the door to novel morphofunctional correlations.

• Nervous System
• brain
• brainstem
• central nervous system
• mammals
• neurons
• neurotransmitter
• receptor

• University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

  Miguel A. Merchán

• University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain

  José M. Juiz

• Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, USA

  Donald A. Godfrey

• University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA

  Enrico Mugnaini

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