Morphology of the dorsal cochlear nucleus in C57BL/6J and CBA/J mice across the life span

The morphology of the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) was evaluated across the life span in inbred C57BL/6J (C57) and CBA/J (CBA) mice using 5 age groups (young adult to very old). C57 mice exhibit progressive cochlear sensorineural pathology and hearing loss during middle age; CBA mice have only modest sensorineural pathology late in life. DCN layers I, II, and III were evaluated histologically with serial sections stained for Nissl and fibers. DCN volume decreased with age in C57 mice, but the change began earliest and was most pronounced in layer III. In CBA mice, volume increased during the first year of life and decreased only in the oldest mice. All major DCN cell types were found in both strains at all ages. There was an age-related decrease in the mean size of neurons in C57 mice that was first observed in layer III. In CBA mice, only a nonsignificant trend toward smaller neurons was observed in the oldest mice. An age-related decline in the number of neurons in layer III (but not in layers I and II) occurred in C57 mice. Aged CBA mice exhibited no significant loss of DCN neurons. Thus, age-related changes in the DCN were much more pronounced in C57 mice than in CBA mice, and the changes in C57 mice were most pronounced in layer III. Because layer III receives most of the DCN's primary auditory input, it would be directly affected by age-related hearing loss and degeneration of spiral ganglion cells in C57 mice. This suggests that the age-related changes observed in DCN layer III of C57 mice are affected by progressive peripheral degenerative changes; when peripheral loss is minimal (CBA mice), less substantial age-related changes are observed.