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Updated: Jul 11, 2026

Evaluation of Auditory Brainstem Response in Chicken Hatchlings
Published on: April 1, 2022
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of avian auditory coincidence detection
1Career-Path Promotion Unit For Young Life Scientists, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. kuba@nbiol.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Abstract:
Sound localization along the horizontal plane begins with comparing sound arrival times at the two ears in the brainstem coincidence detector neurons. Coincidence detectors are functionally as well as morphologically specialized depending on the frequency of sounds that they handle, and the expression of various channel molecules underlies these specializations. Some voltage-gated K(+) channels determine the acuity of coincidence detection, and are expressed most abundantly in the middle-frequency-coding neurons. Some hyperpolarization-activated channels are dominant in the high-frequency-coding neurons, and enable a delicate modulation of coincidence detection by noradrenalin. Axonal clustering of Na(+) channels is also frequency-dependent, and optimizes the coincidence detection. This article aims to provide an overview of recent findings in the cellular and molecular mechanisms of auditory coincidence detection in birds.
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