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Related Concept Videos

The Cochlea01:13

The Cochlea

The cochlea is a coiled structure in the inner ear that contains hair cells—the sensory receptors of the auditory system. Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea by small bones attached to the eardrum called the ossicles, which vibrate the oval window that leads to the inner ear. This causes fluid in the chambers of the cochlea to move, vibrating the basilar membrane.
Auditory Pathway01:15

Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...

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Related Experiment Video

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Auditory Brainstem Response and Outer Hair Cell Whole-cell Patch Clamp Recording in Postnatal Rats
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Auditory Brainstem Response and Outer Hair Cell Whole-cell Patch Clamp Recording in Postnatal Rats

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Prolonged maturation of cochlear function in the barn owl after hatching.

Christine Köppl1, Regina Nickel

  • 1Lehrstuhl für Zoologie, Technische Universität München, Lichtenbergstr. 4, 85747 Garching, Germany. ckoeppl@physiol.usyd.edu.au

Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
|February 27, 2007
PubMed
Summary

Hearing in barn owls develops posthatching, with initial deafness giving way to gradual improvements in cochlear microphonics (CMs) and compound action potentials (CAPs) over several weeks.

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Area of Science:

  • Auditory Neuroscience
  • Developmental Biology
  • Otolaryngology

Background:

  • Auditory system development is crucial for survival and communication.
  • Understanding the maturation timeline of hearing in altricial birds like barn owls provides insights into sensory development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the developmental trajectory of hearing in barn owls from hatching to adulthood.
  • To characterize the maturation of cochlear microphonics (CMs) and compound action potentials (CAPs) in the developing auditory system.

Main Methods:

  • Recorded CMs and CAPs from the round window of barn owl inner ears at various ages posthatching (5-97 days).
  • Assessed auditory sensitivity across different frequencies to track developmental changes.

Main Results:

  • Barn owls exhibit profound deafness at hatching, with hearing developing entirely posthatching.
  • CM sensitivity reached adult levels by 5 weeks, while CAP sensitivity matured later, with highest frequencies taking up to 10 weeks.
  • CAP amplitude maturation, indicating temporal synchrony, occurred even later, around 3 months posthatching.

Conclusions:

  • Auditory sensitivity in barn owls matures gradually posthatching, with distinct timelines for hair cell and auditory nerve activity.
  • A base-to-apex maturation gradient exists for neural sensitivity, with prolonged development in basal cochlear regions.
  • Delayed maturation of CAP amplitudes suggests a protracted period of immaturity in auditory nerve temporal coding.