IN VIVO MICROSCOPY TECHNOLOGIES & APPLICATIONS: MICRO PET & MICRO CT

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

With the aid of MR microscopy, the mustached bat, pteronotus parnellii, has been shown to have normal enlargements (hydrops) in certain regions of the cochlea (scala media). These enlargements occur in specific areas related to very sharp tuning. It is important to determine if this is a morphological feature common to all cochleas in regions of greatest sensitivity. It is also important to determine if this is related primarily to high frequencies and to address the question as to whether there are morphological differences among animals specialized for high vs. low frequency hearing. The purpose of this research is to obtain high resolution images which will allow us to reconstruct the scalae in several species of small mammals. To do this we propose to use two rodents (gerbils, guinea pigs) whose frequency sensitivity and hearing capacities are well documented. In addition to pteronotus, we will use the bat Eptesicus fuscus whose hearing capacities are very different from those of the mustached bat.