The innervation of the middle ear muscles of the rat

The innervation of the tensor tympani muscle and the stapedius muscle in the rat was studied. This was done by acetylcholinesterase in toto staining of the tympanic bullae and of muscles dissected separately, acetylcholinesterase staining of serial cross-sections of the muscles, silver impregnation of serial sections of complete tympanic bullae, serial semithin sections stained according to Laczko & Levai and electron microscopy of both muscles. The gross innervation of the muscles and the relation to other nerves in the bulla are described. It is shown that both muscles are innervated by very thin nerve fibres which form a well-organised elaborate network in the muscles, with very short branches that connect with motor endplates. Electron microscopically there are indications that the endplates in the stapedius muscle seem to enable faster activation of the muscle fibres than those of tensor tympani muscle. No morphological evidence for any sensory innervation of the muscles could be detected in the muscles themselves, in the connective tissue related to the muscles, or in the contents of the bulla tympanica. It is postulated that the afferent input of the acoustic middle ear muscle reflex is sound alone and that sensory information from the muscles themselves or from other structures in the tympanic bulla do not contribute to the reflex.