Sensitivity of the vestibular system to acoustic stimuli

Cochlea-deprived pigeons were placed on a rotating platform and stimulated with sound after fenestration of the lateral canal. The whole nerve action potentials evoked by the sound stimulus were suppressed by the rotatory stimulus. The time course of this suppression makes the lateral crista the most acceptable site of generation of the action potential. In another type of experiment, single unit responses were recorded from the lateral ampullary nerve during stimulation with sound. Phase-lock of the response to the stimulus was best for frequencies fom 0.5 to 1 kHz.