[Electrical response recording of cochlear hair cells in vivo]

Intracellular recordings were made on cells of Corti organ from low-frequency region (third turn) of guinea pig cochlea, the recording sites being confirmed by HRP injection and subsequent histology. Response characteristies of the hair cells were studied. The Inner hair cells (IHCs) possessed relatively low resting membrane potentials in contrast to higher ones of OHCs. The receptor potentials from both cell types, in response to tone bursts, consisted of a combination of AC and DC components. For the low-frequency region, the receptor potentials were dominated by AC component. The causes of recording failure were discussed.