title: Spatial irregularities of sensitivity along the organ of Corti of the cochlea.
abstract: Fine structures of spatial profiles were computed from existing records of cat and chinchilla auditory-nerve fibers on the basis of their characteristic frequencies and cochlear maps. The spatial fine structures of characteristic-frequency thresholds and of "spontaneous" and driven firing rates were mutually correlated, implying the presence of sensitivity fluctuations due to spatial irregularities of presynaptic structures or processes of the inner hair cells and their input. These findings suggest that activity that appears spontaneous is not actually spontaneous and may indicate irregularities of tonotopic mapping in cochlear mechanics.
authors.affiliation: Knowles Hearing Center, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3550.
authors.forename: Andrei N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Temchin
authors.affiliation: Knowles Hearing Center, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3550 mruggero@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Mario A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8240-3644
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ruggero
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000162:Acoustics; D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D002415:Cats; D002682:Chinchilla; D003056:Cochlear Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009925:Organ of Corti / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic
keywords: auditory-nerve fibers; cochlea; inner hair cells; organ of Corti; spatial irregularities