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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Selective Tracing of Auditory Fibers in the Avian Embryonic Vestibulocochlear Nerve
Published on: March 18, 2013
Synaptogenesis in the inferior colliculus of the pre-hearing postnatal ferret
Judy K Brunso-Bechtold1, Stephanie D Evans, Craig K Henkel
1Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1010, USA. jbrunso@wfubmc.edu
Abstract:
Although intrinsic organization in the inferior colliculus (IC) has been surveyed in a variety of species, current knowledge of synaptogenesis within the mammalian inferior colliculus is limited. The present study surveyed the ultrastructure of the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus in postnatal day (P) P4, P7, P14, and P28 ferrets, prior to the onset of hearing at the end of the first postnatal month with the goal of beginning to characterize the time course of synapse formation in relation to the development of afferent projection patterns within the IC. Results suggest that initial synaptogenesis has occurred in the IC by P4 and continues during the period when maturation of the distribution of axons from brainstem auditory nuclei is taking place.
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