Auditory Pathway : Structure and Function

Since the last symposium on "Neuronal Mechanisms of Hearing" held in Prague in 1980 and published in the volume of the same name (J. Syka and L. Aitkin, Eds. , Plenum Press, 1981), remarkable progress has been achieved in the understanding of the auditory system. A variety of new ideas and new methods have emerged. This progress can be easily documented by comparing the volume based on the 1980 Symposium with the program for the 1987 Symposium. For example, there were 45 contributions to auditory physiology in each symposium but there were 27 contributions focusing on anatomy in 1987 as compared to 7 in 1980, and perhaps most telling, there were 12 contributions to the neurochemistry of the system in 1987 while there were only 3 in 1980. In terms of percentages of contributions, neuroanatomy rose from 13% to 32% and neurochemistry (or chemical anatomy) rose from 5% in 1980 to 14% in 1987. These increases in the numbers and proportions of anatomical and neurochemical contributions undoubtedly reflects the increasing availabil­ ity and rising expertise in the new neuroanatomica1 and biochemical techniques most notably, tract-tracing by exploitation of axonal transport or by intracellular micro-injection methods, and neurotransmitter identifi­ cation by use of immunocytochemistry or receptor-binding techniques. New ideas have emerged on the function of cochlear hair cells particularly in connection with olivococh1ear bundle stimulation and supported by findings of contractile proteins in outer hair cells. Front Matter....Pages i-xi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 New Aspects of Comparative Peripheral Auditory Physiology....Pages 3-12 Transfer Function of the Outer Ear of the Guinea Pig Measured by FFT and FFT Scan Analysis of Cochlear Microphonic Response....Pages 13-16 Elastic Properties of the Tectorial Membrane in Vivo ....Pages 17-21 Cytoskeletal Organisation in the Apex of Cochlear Hair Cells....Pages 23-28 Further Investigation About the Function of Inner Ear Melanin....Pages 29-34 The Thromboxane/Prostacyclin Balance in Guinea Pig Cochlea....Pages 35-39 Peripheral Auditory Development in the Cat and Rat....Pages 41-44 Noise Induced Hair Cell Loss During the Sensitive Period of Developing Rat Pup Cochlea....Pages 45-50 Interaural Difference of Pseudothreshold of Stimulated Otoacoustic Emission in Unilateral Inner Ear Impairments....Pages 51-55 Responses of Cochlear Afferents to Low-Frequency Tones: Intensity Dependence....Pages 57-62 Front Matter....Pages 63-63 Anatomy of the Mammalian Cochlear Nuclei; a Review....Pages 65-75 Observations on the Cytoarchitecture of the Guinea Pig Ventral Cochlear Nucleus....Pages 77-82 Cellular Connections Revealed by Transneuronal Transport of HRP in the Guinea Pig Cochlear Nucleus....Pages 83-87 Morphometric and Cytoarchitectural Study of the Different Neuronal Types in the VCN of the Rat....Pages 89-93 Relationship between the Level of Origin of Primary Fibers in the Rat Cochlea and their Spatial Distribution in the Rat Cochlear Nuclei....Pages 95-99 The Central Projection of Intracellularly Labeled Auditory Nerve Fibers: Morphometric Relationships Between Structural and Physiological Properties....Pages 101-106 Neurotransmitter Microchemistry of the Cochlear Nucleus and Superior Olivary Complex....Pages 107-121 Cholinergic, Gaba-Ergic, and Noradrenergic Input to Cochlear Granule Cells in the Guinea Pig and Monkey....Pages 123-131 Glutamate Decarboxylase Immunostaining in the Human Cochlear Nucleus....Pages 133-139 Forward Masking of Single Neurons in the Cochlear Nucleus....Pages 141-147 Front Matter....Pages 63-63 Responses of Cat Ventral Cochlear Nucleus Neurones to Variations in the Rate and Intensity of Electric Current Pulses....Pages 149-154 Cochlear Frequency Selectivity and Brainstem Evoked Response (BER) Dependence on Click Polarity....Pages 155-161 Latency “Shift” of the Wave V in Bera for Lower Frequencies?....Pages 163-164 The Influence of Relaxation, Quality and Gain of Signals on Bera Latency....Pages 165-167 Front Matter....Pages 169-169 Organization of the Lateral Lemniscal Fibers Converging Onto the Inferior Colliculus in the Cat: An Anatomical Review....Pages 171-183 Different Binaural Inputs Subdividing Isofrequency Planes in Chick Inferior Colliculus: Evidence from 2-Deoxyglucose....Pages 185-190 Functional Organization of the Ventral and Medial Divisions of the Medial Geniculate Body (MGB) of the Cat....Pages 191-196 Topography of the Thalamotelencephalic Projections in the Auditory System of a Songbird (Sturnus Vulgaris)....Pages 197-202 Study with Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP) of the Connections Between the Cochlear Nuclei and the Inferior Colliculus of the Rat....Pages 203-205 Physiological Properties of Units in the Cochlear Nucleus are Adequate for a Model of Periodicity Analysis in the Auditory Midbrain....Pages 207-212 Monaural Phase Sensitivity in Neurons from the Cat’s Auditory System....Pages 213-216 Cochlear Potentials and Responses from Structures of Auditory Pathway Influenced by High-Intensive Noise....Pages 217-220 Front Matter....Pages 221-221 Auditory Cortex: Multiple Fields, their Architectonics and Connections in the Mongolian Gerbil....Pages 223-228 Golgi Studies on the Human Auditory Cortex....Pages 229-232 Structure of the Gaba-Ergic Inhibitory System in the Chicken Auditory Pathway Revealed by Immunocytochemistry....Pages 233-237 Function of the GABA-Ergic Inhibitory System in the Chicken Auditory Forebrain....Pages 239-244 Resolution of Components of Harmonic Complex Tones by Single Neurons in the Alert Auditory Cortex....Pages 245-249 Front Matter....Pages 251-251 Physiology of the Olivocochlear Efferents....Pages 253-267 Physiology of Cochlear Efferents in the Mammal....Pages 269-278 Descending Central Auditory Pathway — Structure and Function....Pages 279-292 Front Matter....Pages 251-251 Localization of Cortical Neurons Projecting to the Inferior Colliculus in the Rat and Guinea Pig....Pages 293-298 Efferent Descending Projections from the Inferior Colliculus in Guinea Pig....Pages 299-303 Some Speculations on the Function of the Descending Auditory Pathways....Pages 305-309 Front Matter....Pages 311-311 Human Auditory Physiology Studied with Positron Emission Tomography....Pages 313-317 Medial Geniculate Body Unit Responses to Cat Cries....Pages 319-322 Projections from Superior Temporal Gyrus: Convergent Connections between Structures Involved in Both Audition and Phonation....Pages 323-326 Neural Processing of AM-Sounds within Central Auditory Pathway....Pages 327-331 Front Matter....Pages 333-333 Properties of Central Auditory Neurones of Cats Responding to Free-Field Acoustic Stimuli....Pages 335-347 Information Processing Concerning Moving Sound Sources in the Auditory Centers and its Utilization by Brain Integrative and Motor Structures....Pages 349-354 Back Matter....Pages 355-363 Since the last symposium on "Neuronal Mechanisms of Hearing" held in Prague in 1980 and published in the volume of the same name (J. Syka and L. Aitkin, Eds., Plenum Press, 1981), remarkable progress has been achieved in the understanding of the auditory system. A variety of new ideas and new methods have emerged. This progress can be easily documented by comparing the volume based on the 1980 Symposium with the program for the 1987 Symposium. For example, there were 45 contributions to auditory physiology in each symposium but there were 27 contributions focusing on anatomy in 1987 as compared to 7 in 1980, and perhaps most telling, there were 12 contributions to the neurochemistry of the system in 1987 while there were only 3 in 1980. In terms of percentages of contributions, neuroanatomy rose from 13% to 32% and neurochemistry (or chemical anatomy) rose from 5% in 1980 to 14% in 1987. These increases in the numbers and proportions of anatomical and neurochemical contributions undoubtedly reflects the increasing availabilƯ ity and rising expertise in the new neuroanatomica1 and biochemical techniques most notably, tract-tracing by exploitation of axonal transport or by intracellular micro-injection methods, and neurotransmitter identifiƯ cation by use of immunocytochemistry or receptor-binding techniques. New ideas have emerged on the function of cochlear hair cells particularly in connection with olivococh1ear bundle stimulation and supported by findings of contractile proteins in outer hair cells