Major
Biology
Anticipated Graduation Year
2022
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Sound information is transmitted from the cochlea in the inner ear to the cochlear nucleus via spiral ganglion neurons. SGNs innervate the cochlear nucleus in a tonotopic fashion, meaning neuronal connectivity is organized by frequency response. SGNs responding to high frequency sounds project auditory nerve fibers to the dorsal portions of the CN while SGNs that convey low frequency sounds send fibers to ventral parts of the CN, forming isofrequency bands where nearby CN neurons have similar frequency responses. Despite its importance in auditory functions, the molecular mechanisms that underlie the establishment of this tonotopic map remain elusive.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Dr. Wei-Ming Yu, Department of Biology
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
The Ephrin-B2 signal regulates the response of auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) during neural development
Sound information is transmitted from the cochlea in the inner ear to the cochlear nucleus via spiral ganglion neurons. SGNs innervate the cochlear nucleus in a tonotopic fashion, meaning neuronal connectivity is organized by frequency response. SGNs responding to high frequency sounds project auditory nerve fibers to the dorsal portions of the CN while SGNs that convey low frequency sounds send fibers to ventral parts of the CN, forming isofrequency bands where nearby CN neurons have similar frequency responses. Despite its importance in auditory functions, the molecular mechanisms that underlie the establishment of this tonotopic map remain elusive.