Affiliation:
1. Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine
2. Laboratory of Auditory Neurophysiology, Medical School, Campus Gasthuisberg, University of Leuven
Abstract
Mechanosensation – by which mechanical stimuli are converted into a neuronal signal – is the basis for the sensory systems of hearing, balance, and touch. Mechanosensation is unmatched in speed and its diverse range of sensitivities, reaching its highest temporal limits with the sense of hearing; however, hair cells (HCs) and the auditory nerve (AN) serve as obligatory bottlenecks for sounds to engage the brain. Like other sensory neurons, auditory neurons use the canonical pathway for neurotransmission and millisecond-duration action potentials (APs). How the auditory system utilizes the relatively slow transmission mechanisms to achieve ultrafast speed, and high audio-frequency hearing remains an enigma. Here, we address this paradox and report that the mouse, and chinchilla, AN are mechanically sensitive, and minute mechanical displacement profoundly affects its response properties. Sound-mimicking sinusoidal mechanical and electrical current stimuli affect phase-locked responses. In a phase-dependent manner, the two stimuli can also evoke suppressive responses. We propose that mechanical sensitivity interacts with synaptic responses to shape responses in the AN, including frequency tuning and temporal phase locking. Combining neurotransmission and mechanical sensation to control spike patterns gives the mammalian AN a secondary receptor role, an emerging theme in primary neuronal functions.
Funder
National Institutes of Health
KU Leuven
Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Publisher
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Subject
General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine,General Neuroscience
Cited by
3 articles.
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