Light and Electron-Microscopic Studies of Auditory Hair-CellInnervation in the Leopard Frog

青蛙是脊椎动物，有两个不同的听觉器官， 而不是哺乳动物的单个耳蜗。 已经有了很多了解 关于青蛙的呼叫交流行为， 青蛙听觉系统的生理学 然而，与案件不同， 哺乳动物，解剖细节和超微结构如何 感觉毛细胞的神经支配知之甚少。 这些细节 在形成关于 观察青蛙听觉的频率选择性和生理学。 这项工作将使用光学和电子显微镜来评估 感受器细胞是如何受听神经支配的， 这两个器官，然后研究它们的详细结构 单个神经纤维的功能性连接，突触， 在已知功能的选定区域中。 结果将 不仅对听觉功能的比较方面很重要， 包括物种间的生理和行为， 频率编码机制的一般原理 对听觉神经科学至关重要

Frogs are vertebrates with two distinct auditory organs, rather than the single cochlea of mammals. A great deal is known about frog calling communication behavior, and about the physiology of frog auditory systems. However, unlike the case in mammals, the anatomical details and ultrastructure of how the sensory hair cells are innervated is poorly known. Such details are important in forming hypotheses about mechanisms for the observed frequency selectivity and physiology of frog hearing. This work will use light and electron microscopy to assess how the receptor cells are innervated by the auditory nerve in both these organs, and then to study the detailed architecture of the functional contancts, the synapses, of single nerve fibers in selected regions where function is known. The results will be important not only to comparative aspects of auditory function including physiology and behavior among species, but also to general principles of frequency coding mechanisms which are crucial to auditory neuroscience.