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Updated: May 24, 2026

The Olfactory System as a Model to Study Axonal Growth Patterns and Morphology In Vivo
Published on: October 30, 2014
Patterns of olivocochlear axonal branches
Amar U Kishan1, Charles C Lee, Jeffery A Winer
1Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
Abstract:
The olivocochlear (OC) pathway is the source of major feedback control of ascending acoustic information. Two main patterns of axonal branching are evident at this and other levels of the auditory pathway: long-distance collaterals and branches involved in feedback-control loops. Only a minority of OC neurons project to both cochlea, consistent with a role for the system in sound localization. OC branches to the ventral cochlear nucleus provide the anatomical substrate for a feedback control loop that could aid in modulating the intensity of acoustic information being conveyed to higher cortical levels while still dampening the overall intensity of signaling from the cochlea itself.
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