A non-canonical pathway from cochlea to brain signals tissue-damaging noise.

ABSTRACT: Intense noise damages the cochlear organ of Corti, particularly the outer hair cells (OHCs) [1]; however, this epithelium is not innervated by nociceptors of somatosensory ganglia, which detect damage elsewhere in the body. The only sensory neurons innervating the organ of Corti originate from the spiral ganglion, roughly 95% of which innervate exclusively inner hair cells (IHCs) [2-4]. Upon sound stimulation, IHCs release glutamate to activate AMPA-type receptors on these myelinated type-I neurons, which carry the neuronal signals to the cochlear nucleus. The remaining spiral ganglion cells (type IIs) are unmyelinated and contact OHCs [2-4]. Their function is unknown. Using immunoreactivity to cFos, we documented neuronal activation in the brainstem of Vglut3(-/-) mice, in which the canon

SUBMITTER: Flores EN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4348215 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature