Dragicevic Constantino D, Aedo Cristian, León Alex, Bowen Macarena, Jara Natalia, Terreros Gonzalo, Robles Luis, Delano Paul H
Laboratorio de Neurobiología de la Audición, Programa de Fisiología y Biofísica, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, 8380453, Santiago, Chile,
J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2015 Apr;16(2):223-40. doi: 10.1007/s10162-015-0509-9. Epub 2015 Feb 7.
In mammals, efferent projections to the cochlear receptor are constituted by olivocochlear (OC) fibers that originate in the superior olivary complex. Medial and lateral OC neurons make synapses with outer hair cells and with auditory nerve fibers, respectively. In addition to the OC system, there are also descending projections from the auditory cortex that are directed towards the thalamus, inferior colliculus, cochlear nucleus, and superior olivary complex. Olivocochlear function can be assessed by measuring a brainstem reflex mediated by auditory nerve fibers, cochlear nucleus neurons, and OC fibers. Although it is known that the OC reflex is activated by contralateral acoustic stimulation and produces a suppression of cochlear responses, the influence of cortical descending pathways in the OC reflex is largely unknown. Here, we used auditory cortex electrical microstimulation in chinchillas to study a possible cortical modulation of cochlear and auditory nerve responses to tones in the absence and presence of contralateral noise. We found that cortical microstimulation produces two different peripheral modulations: (i) changes in cochlear sensitivity evidenced by amplitude modulation of cochlear microphonics and auditory nerve compound action potentials and (ii) enhancement or suppression of the OC reflex strength as measured by auditory nerve responses, which depended on the intersubject variability of the OC reflex. Moreover, both corticofugal effects were not correlated, suggesting the presence of two functionally different efferent pathways. These results demonstrate that auditory cortex electrical microstimulation independently modulates the OC reflex strength and cochlear sensitivity.
在哺乳动物中,投射至耳蜗感受器的传出纤维由起源于上橄榄复合体的橄榄耳蜗(OC)纤维构成。内侧和外侧OC神经元分别与外毛细胞和听神经纤维形成突触。除了OC系统外,还有从听觉皮层发出的下行投射,其目标是丘脑、下丘、耳蜗核和上橄榄复合体。橄榄耳蜗功能可通过测量由听神经纤维、耳蜗核神经元和OC纤维介导的脑干反射来评估。虽然已知OC反射由对侧声刺激激活并会抑制耳蜗反应,但皮层下行通路在OC反射中的影响在很大程度上尚不清楚。在此,我们对毛丝鼠进行听觉皮层电微刺激,以研究在不存在和存在对侧噪声的情况下,皮层对耳蜗和听神经对音调反应的可能调制。我们发现皮层微刺激会产生两种不同的外周调制:(i)耳蜗微音器电位和听神经复合动作电位的幅度调制证明了耳蜗敏感性的变化;(ii)通过听神经反应测量的OC反射强度增强或抑制,这取决于OC反射的个体间变异性。此外,这两种皮质传出效应不相关,表明存在两条功能不同的传出通路。这些结果表明,听觉皮层电微刺激可独立调节OC反射强度和耳蜗敏感性。