scholarly journals Mass Potentials Recorded at the Round Window Enable the Detection of Low Spontaneous Rate Fibers in Gerbil Auditory Nerve

PLoS ONE ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. e0169890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlène Batrel ◽  
Antoine Huet ◽  
Florian Hasselmann ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
Gilles Desmadryl ◽  
...  
2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 1025-1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Bourien ◽  
Yong Tang ◽  
Charlène Batrel ◽  
Antoine Huet ◽  
Marc Lenoir ◽  
...  

Sound-evoked compound action potential (CAP), which captures the synchronous activation of the auditory nerve fibers (ANFs), is commonly used to probe deafness in experimental and clinical settings. All ANFs are believed to contribute to CAP threshold and amplitude: low sound pressure levels activate the high-spontaneous rate (SR) fibers, and increasing levels gradually recruit medium- and then low-SR fibers. In this study, we quantitatively analyze the contribution of the ANFs to CAP 6 days after 30-min infusion of ouabain into the round window niche. Anatomic examination showed a progressive ablation of ANFs following increasing concentration of ouabain. CAP amplitude and threshold plotted against loss of ANFs revealed three ANF pools: 1) a highly ouabain-sensitive pool, which does not participate in either CAP threshold or amplitude, 2) a less sensitive pool, which only encoded CAP amplitude, and 3) a ouabain-resistant pool, required for CAP threshold and amplitude. Remarkably, distribution of the three pools was similar to the SR-based ANF distribution (low-, medium-, and high-SR fibers), suggesting that the low-SR fiber loss leaves the CAP unaffected. Single-unit recordings from the auditory nerve confirmed this hypothesis and further showed that it is due to the delayed and broad first spike latency distribution of low-SR fibers. In addition to unraveling the neural mechanisms that encode CAP, our computational simulation of an assembly of guinea pig ANFs generalizes and extends our experimental findings to different species of mammals. Altogether, our data demonstrate that substantial ANF loss can coexist with normal hearing threshold and even unchanged CAP amplitude.


2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 2145-2162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph E. Beitel ◽  
Russell L. Snyder ◽  
Christoph E. Schreiner ◽  
Marcia W. Raggio ◽  
Patricia A. Leake

Cochlear prostheses for electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve (“electrical hearing”) can provide auditory capacity for profoundly deaf adults and children, including in many cases a restored ability to perceive speech without visual cues. A fundamental challenge in auditory neuroscience is to understand the neural and perceptual mechanisms that make rehabilitation of hearing possible in these deaf humans. We have developed a feline behavioral model that allows us to study behavioral and physiological variables in the same deaf animals. Cats deafened by injection of ototoxic antibiotics were implanted with either a monopolar round window electrode or a multichannel scala tympani electrode array. To evaluate the effects of perceptually significant electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve on the central auditory system, an animal was trained to avoid a mild electrocutaneous shock when biphasic current pulses (0.2 ms/phase) were delivered to its implanted cochlea. Psychophysical detection thresholds and electrical auditory brain stem response (EABR) thresholds were estimated in each cat. At the conclusion of behavioral testing, acute physiological experiments were conducted, and threshold responses were recorded for single neurons and multineuronal clusters in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC) and the primary auditory cortex (A1). Behavioral and neurophysiological thresholds were evaluated with reference to cochlear histopathology in the same deaf cats. The results of the present study include: 1) in the cats implanted with a scala tympani electrode array, the lowest ICC and A1 neural thresholds were virtually identical to the behavioral thresholds for intracochlear bipolar stimulation; 2) behavioral thresholds were lower than ICC and A1 neural thresholds in each of the cats implanted with a monopolar round window electrode; 3) EABR thresholds were higher than behavioral thresholds in all of the cats (mean difference = 6.5 dB); and 4) the cumulative number of action potentials for a sample of ICC neurons increased monotonically as a function of the amplitude and the number of stimulating biphasic pulses. This physiological result suggests that the output from the ICC may be integrated spatially across neurons and temporally integrated across pulses when the auditory nerve array is stimulated with a train of biphasic current pulses. Because behavioral thresholds were lower and reaction times were faster at a pulse rate of 30 pps compared with a pulse rate of 2 pps, spatial-temporal integration in the central auditory system was presumably reflected in psychophysical performance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 563-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Polterauer ◽  
Maike Neuling ◽  
Joachim Müller ◽  
John-Martin Hempel ◽  
Giacomo Mandruzzato ◽  
...  

AbstractPrior to cochlear implantation, audiological tests are performed to determine candidacy in subjects with a hearing loss. This is usually done by measuring the acoustic auditory brainstem response (ABR). Unfortunately, for some subjects, a reproducible ABR recording cannot be obtained, even at high acoustic levels. Having a healthy stimulating auditory nerve is required for cochlear implantation in order to benefit from the electrical pulses that are generated by the implant and to improve speech comprehension. In some subjects, this prerequisite cannot be measured using routine audiological tests. In this study, the feasibility of recording electrically evoked auditory brainstem responses (eABR) using a stimulating transtympanic electrode, placed on the round window niche, together with MED-EL clinical system is investigated. The results show that it is possible to record reproducible eABR measurements using PromBERA. The response was also confirmed with intraoperative eABR measurements that were stimulated using the implanted CI electrode array. Similarities between the intraoperative measurements and the preoperative recorded waveforms were observed. In summary, the integrity and excitability of the auditory nerve can be objectively measured using the PromBERA in subjects where standard clinical testing procedures are unable to provide the information required.


Author(s):  
Carolyn M. McClaskey ◽  
James W. Dias ◽  
Richard A. Schmiedt ◽  
Judy R. Dubno ◽  
Kelly C. Harris

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Jiao ◽  
Björn Palmgren ◽  
Ekaterina Novozhilova ◽  
Ulrica Englund Johansson ◽  
Anne L. Spieles-Engemann ◽  
...  

Objectives. To study possible nerve regeneration of a damaged auditory nerve by the use of stem cell transplantation.Methods. We transplanted HNPCs to the rat AN trunk by the internal auditory meatus (IAM). Furthermore, we studied if addition of BDNF affects survival and phenotypic differentiation of the grafted HNPCs. A bioactive nanofiber gel (PA gel), in selected groups mixed with BDNF, was applied close to the implanted cells. Before transplantation, all rats had been deafened by a round window niche application ofβ-bungarotoxin. This neurotoxin causes a selective toxic destruction of the AN while keeping the hair cells intact.Results. Overall, HNPCs survived well for up to six weeks in all groups. However, transplants receiving the BDNF-containing PA gel demonstrated significantly higher numbers of HNPCs and neuronal differentiation. At six weeks, a majority of the HNPCs had migrated into the brain stem and differentiated. Differentiated human cells as well as neurites were observed in the vicinity of the cochlear nucleus.Conclusion. Our results indicate that human neural precursor cells (HNPC) integration with host tissue benefits from additional brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) treatment and that these cells appear to be good candidates for further regenerative studies on the auditory nerve (AN).


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