Document Detail


The vestibular system mediates sensation of low-frequency sounds in mice.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20821033     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The mammalian inner ear contains sense organs responsible for detecting sound, gravity and linear acceleration, and angular acceleration. Of these organs, the cochlea is involved in hearing, while the sacculus and utriculus serve to detect linear acceleration. Recent evidence from birds and mammals, including humans, has shown that the sacculus, a hearing organ in many lower vertebrates, has retained some of its ancestral acoustic sensitivity. Here we provide not only more evidence for the retained acoustic sensitivity of the sacculus, but we also found that acoustic stimulation of the sacculus has behavioral significance in mammals. We show that the amplitude of an elicited auditory startle response is greater when the startle stimuli are presented simultaneously with a low-frequency masker, including masker tones that are outside the sensitivity range of the cochlea. Masker-enhanced auditory startle responses were also observed in otoconia-absent Nox3 mice, which lack otoconia but have no obvious cochlea pathology. However, masker enhancement was not observed in otoconia-absent Nox3 mice if the low-frequency masker tones were outside the sensitivity range of the cochlea. This last observation confirms that otoconial organs, most likely the sacculus, contribute to behavioral responses to low-frequency sounds in mice.
Authors:
Gareth P Jones; Victoria A Lukashkina; Ian J Russell; Andrei N Lukashkin
Related Documents :
20000933 - Effects of bandwidth on auditory localization with a noise masker.
20482293 - Auditory steady-state evoked potentials vs. compound action potentials for the measurem...
15961313 - Destabilization of human balance control by static and dynamic head tilts.
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2010-09-04
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology : JARO     Volume:  11     ISSN:  1438-7573     ISO Abbreviation:  J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryngol.     Publication Date:  2010 Dec 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-11-09     Completed Date:  2011-03-03     Revised Date:  2011-12-21    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  100892857     Medline TA:  J Assoc Res Otolaryngol     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  725-32     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QG, UK.
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Acoustic Stimulation*
Animals
Cochlea / physiology
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Inbred CBA
Mutation / genetics
NADPH Oxidase / genetics,  physiology
Otolithic Membrane / physiology
Saccule and Utricle / physiology
Sound*
Vestibule, Labyrinth / physiology*
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
//Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
EC 1.6.-/Nox3 protein, mouse; EC 1.6.3.1/NADPH Oxidase

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  The effect of cochlear-implant-mediated electrical stimulation on spiral ganglion cells in congenita...
Next Document:  Ethnic differences in health and use of health care: the questions to be answered.