Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 4, 2026

Postsynaptic Recordings at Afferent Dendrites Contacting Cochlear Inner Hair Cells: Monitoring Multivesicular Release at a Ribbon Synapse
Published on: February 10, 2011
Davis-1961 revisited. Signal transmission in the cochlear hair cell-nerve junction
Abstract:
In 1961, Hallowell Davis proposed the occurrence of the following general sequence of interrelated events in sense organs, in response to specific sensory inputs: (1) the generation of receptor potentials in the sensory cells; (2) chemical transmission across the synapses between hair cells and afferent dendrites; and (3) the triggering of postsynaptic generator potentials capable of eliciting the actual nerve action potentials. Although at the time of his writing there was no evidence for this hypothesis in the auditory organ, there is now good support for the occurrence of all three events and for their general importance in the sensory transduction process.
Related Concept Videos
Hair Cells
The Cochlea
Action Potential
Membrane potential in neurons
Neurons typically have a resting membrane potential of about -70 millivolts (mV). When they receive...
Action Potential
Membrane potential in neurons
Neurons typically have a resting membrane potential of about -70 millivolts (mV). When they receive...
Anatomy of the Ear
Auditory Pathway
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...

