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Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Stochastic Noise Application for the Assessment of Medial Vestibular Nucleus Neuron Sensitivity In Vitro
Published on: August 28, 2019
How does high-frequency sound or vibration activate vestibular receptors?
1Vestibular Research Laboratory, School of Psychology A 18, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia, ianc@psych.usyd.edu.au.
Abstract:
The mechanism by which vestibular neural phase locking occurs and how it relates to classical otolith mechanics is unclear. Here, we put forward the hypothesis that sound and vibration both cause fluid pressure waves in the inner ear and that it is these pressure waves which displace the hair bundles on vestibular receptor hair cells and result in activation of type I receptor hair cells and phase locking of the action potentials in the irregular vestibular afferents, which synapse on type I receptors. This idea has been suggested since the early neural recordings and recent results give it greater credibility.
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