Cochlear aging disrupts the correlation between spontaneous rate and sound-level coding in auditory nerve fibers
Amarins N. Heeringa, Fiona Teske, Go Ashida, Christine Köppl
Abstract
Auditory nerve fibers, which connect the cochlea to the central auditory system, change their encoding of sound level in aged gerbils. In addition to a general shift to higher levels, indicative of decreased sensitivity, level coding was also differentially affected in fibers with low- and high-spontaneous rates. Loss of low-spontaneous rate fibers, combined with a general decrease of spontaneous rate, further blurs the categorization of auditory nerve fiber types in the aged gerbil.
Topics & Concepts
GerbilCochlear nerveCochleaSensory systemHair cellAudiologyPresbycusisDegeneration (medical)Inner earChemistryAnatomyNeuroscienceHearing lossBiologyMedicineInternal medicinePathologyIschemiaHearing, Cochlea, Tinnitus, GeneticsHearing Loss and RehabilitationAcoustic Wave Phenomena Research