Chan Ying-Shing, Lai Chun-Hong, Shum Daisy Kwok-Yan
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
Exp Brain Res. 2006 Aug;173(2):205-14. doi: 10.1007/s00221-006-0491-x. Epub 2006 May 9.
This review focuses on recent approaches to unravel the capacity of otolith-related brainstem neurons for coding head orientations. In the first section, the spatiotemporal features of central vestibular neurons in response to natural otolithic stimulation are reviewed. Experiments that reveal convergent inputs from bilateral vestibular end organs bear important implications on the processing of spatiotemporal signals and integration of head orientational signals within central otolith neurons. Another section covers the maturation profile of central otolith neurons in the recognition of spatial information. Postnatal changes in the distribution pattern of neuronal subpopulations that subserve the horizontal and vertical otolith systems are highlighted. Lastly, the expression pattern of glutamate receptor subunits and neurotrophin receptors in otolith-related neurons within the vestibular nuclear complex are reviewed in relation to the potential roles of these receptors in the development of vestibular function.
本综述聚焦于近期用于揭示与耳石相关的脑干神经元编码头部方位能力的方法。在第一部分，回顾了中枢前庭神经元对自然耳石刺激作出反应的时空特征。揭示来自双侧前庭终器的汇聚输入的实验，对中枢耳石神经元内时空信号的处理以及头部方位信号的整合具有重要意义。另一部分涵盖了中枢耳石神经元在空间信息识别方面的成熟概况。着重介绍了服务于水平和垂直耳石系统的神经元亚群分布模式在出生后的变化。最后，结合这些受体在前庭功能发育中的潜在作用，综述了前庭核复合体中与耳石相关的神经元内谷氨酸受体亚基和神经营养因子受体的表达模式。
