Synaptic Physiology in the Isolated Mammalian Cochlea

耳蜗是哺乳动物的听觉接收器官。其中一组机械感觉细胞，即内部毛细胞，与听觉感觉神经元进行独特的功能性突触联系，听觉感觉神经元将信息传递给大脑。与许多其他突触位点不同，哺乳动物耳蜗内毛细胞的单个活跃区通常构成传入神经元的整个突触输入，而其他地方常见的广泛分支则不同。这个探索性项目将开发一种新的哺乳动物耳蜗的分离制备，以利用独特的机会来研究单个突触活跃区的生理学。研究结果将对我们理解突触机制具有重要意义，而分离制备将为听觉神经科学的研究提供重要的新途径。

The cochlea is the receptor organ for hearing in mammals. One group of its mechanosensory cells, the inner hair cells, make unique functional synaptic contacts with auditory sensory neurons that carry information to the brain. Unlike many other synaptic sites, in the mammalian cochlea a single active zone of one inner hair cell usually constitutes the entire synaptic input to the afferent neurons, unlike the extensive branching common elsewhere. This exploratory project will develop a novel isolated preparation of the mammalian cochlea to exploit the unique opportunity to study the physiology of a single synaptic active zone. Results will be important to our understanding of synaptic mechanisms, and the isolated preparation will provide an important new approach with impact on auditory neuroscience.