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Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Selective Tracing of Auditory Fibers in the Avian Embryonic Vestibulocochlear Nerve
Published on: March 18, 2013
Input-output curves of low and high spontaneous rate auditory nerve fibers are exponential near threshold
J Wiebe Horst1, JoAnn McGee2, Edward J Walsh2
1University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, P.O. Box 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, the Netherlands.
Abstract:
Input-output (IO) properties of cochlear transduction are frequently determined by analyzing the average discharge rates of auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) in response to relatively long tonal stimulation. The ANFs in cats have spontaneous discharge rates (SRs) that are bimodally distributed, peaking at low (<0.5 spikes/s) and high (∼60 spikes/s) rates, and rate-level characteristics differ depending upon SR. In an effort to assess the instantaneous IO properties of ANFs having different SRs, static IO-curves were constructed from period histograms based on phase-locking of spikes to the stimulus waveform. These curves provide information unavailable in conventional average rate-level curves. We find that all IO curves follow an exponential trajectory. It is argued that the exponential behavior represents the transduction in the IHC and that the difference among ANFs having different SRs is predominantly a difference in gain attributed most likely to synaptic drive. © 2018 The authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
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