Small neurons in the vestibular nerve root project to the marginal shell of the anteroventral cochlear nucleus in the cat

H. B. Zhao, K. Parham, S. Ghoshal, D. O. Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

We injected biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) into marginal shell regions of the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) of the cat. These injections led to retrograde labeling of cells including small cells (median soma area = 111 μm2, equivalent diameter = 11.9 μm) in the vestibular nerve root (VNR), just ventral to an anterior part of the AVCN. This is an unexpected new finding. The cells were scattered among BDA-labeled fibers and were oriented parallel to the course of the VNR fibers. We suggest that the small neurons of the VNR might serve as second-order vestibular neurons conveying information from vestibular end organs to the cochlear nucleus (CN) and/or act as interneurons between the olivocochlear fibers in the VNR and the CN.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)295-298
Number of pages4
JournalBrain Research
Volume700
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 27 1995

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was supported in part by grants R01DC00360 and P01DC01366 from NIDCD, NIH. We thank Drs. E. Mugnaini, E.M. Ostapoff, D.L. Oliver, and D.K. Morest for comments, and Dr. D.K. Morest for help in determining cytoarchitectonic subdivisions of the cochlear nucleus.

Keywords

  • Auditory brain stem
  • Biotinylated dextran amine
  • Granule cells
  • Olivocochlear fibers
  • Retrograde transport
  • Small cell cap

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • Molecular Biology
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Developmental Biology

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