scholarly journals Functional Parameters of Prestin Are Not Correlated With the Best Hearing Frequency

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongying Wang ◽  
Qingping Ma ◽  
Jiawen Lu ◽  
Xiaochen Cui ◽  
Haifeng Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Outer Hair Cells ◽  
Amino Acid Sequences ◽  
Striking Difference ◽  
Functional Parameters ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Frequency Detection ◽  
Whole Cell Patch Clamp ◽  
Voltage Dependent

Among the vertebrate lineages with different hearing frequency ranges, humans lie between the low-frequency hearing (1 kHz) of fish and amphibians and the high-frequency hearing (100 kHz) of bats and dolphins. Little is known about the mechanism underlying such a striking difference in the limits of hearing frequency. Prestin, responsible for cochlear amplification and frequency selectivity in mammals, seems to be the only candidate to date. Mammalian prestin is densely expressed in the lateral plasma membrane of the outer hair cells (OHCs) and functions as a voltage-dependent motor protein. To explore the molecular basis for the contribution of prestin in hearing frequency detection, we collected audiogram data from humans, dogs, gerbils, bats, and dolphins because their average hearing frequency rises in steps. We generated stable cell lines transfected with human, dog, gerbil, bat, and dolphin prestins (hPres, dPres, gPres, bPres, and nPres, respectively). The non-linear capacitance (NLC) of different prestins was measured using a whole-cell patch clamp. We found that the Qmax/Clin of bPres and nPres was significantly higher than that of humans. The V1/2 of hPres was more hyperpolarized than that of nPres. The z values of hPres and bPres were higher than that of nPres. We further analyzed the relationship between the high-frequency hearing limit (Fmax) and the functional parameters (V1/2, z, and Qmax/Clin) of NLC among five prestins. Interestingly, no significant correlation was found between the functional parameters and Fmax. Additionally, a comparative study showed that the amino acid sequences and tertiary structures of five prestins were quite similar. There might be a common fundamental mechanism driving the function of prestins. These findings call for a reconsideration of the leading role of prestin in hearing frequency perception. Other intriguing kinetics underlying the hearing frequency response of auditory organs might exist.

Prestin Expression in Cochlea of Bats Using Different Echolocation Systems

2014 ◽  
Vol 620 ◽  
pp. 248-252
Author(s):  
Qi Jiu Li ◽  
Xian De Zhang ◽  
Ting Ting Xu ◽  
Jiang Xia Yin
Keyword(s):  
Hair Cells ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Motor Protein ◽  
Outer Hair Cells ◽  
Intracellular Potential ◽  
First Time ◽  
Unique Ability

Outer hair cells (OHCs) have a unique ability to contract and elongate in response to changes in intracellular potential, and Prestin is the motor protein of the cochlea of the OHCs. It is the first time to invest the Prestin expression in different bat species. To invest Prestin expression in different bat species, which have different frequency, we did the coronal sections’ staining of the cochlea using immunhistochemistry. Experiment was designed to determine if the high-frequency bats’ OHCs have more expression than the low-frequency bats’OHCs. We found that the expression in three species was similar and had no obvious difference. Though the study of bats Prestin evolution suggested that Prestin has accelerating evolution in echolocation bats with high frequency, our we showed that the Prestin expression has nothing to do with the frequency, and the Prestin expression in high-frequency bats and low-frequency bats is similar.

Saccade-related activity in monkey superior colliculus. I. Characteristics of burst and buildup cells

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 2313-2333 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. Munoz ◽  
R. H. Wurtz
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Striking Difference ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Slow Increase ◽  
High Frequency Discharge ◽  
Optimal Direction ◽  
Saccade Onset ◽  
Increased Activity

1. In the monkey superior colliculus (SC), the activity of most saccade-related neurons studied so far consists of a burst of activity in a population of cells at one place on the SC movement map. In contrast, recent experiments in the cat have described saccade-related activity as a slow increase in discharge before saccades followed by a hill of activity moving across the SC map. In order to explore this striking difference in the distribution of activity across the SC, we recorded from all saccade-related neurons that we encountered in microelectrode penetrations through the monkey SC and placed them in categories according to their activity during the generation of saccades. 2. When we considered the activity preceding the onset of the saccade, we could divide the cells into two categories. Cells with burst activity had a high-frequency discharge just before saccade onset but little activity between the signal to make a saccade and saccade onset. About two thirds of the saccade-related cells had only a burst of activity. Cells with a buildup of activity began to discharge at a low frequency after the signal to make a saccade and the discharge continued until generation of the saccade. About one third of the saccade-related cells studied had a buildup of activity, and about three fourths of these cells also gave a burst of activity with the saccade in addition to the slow buildup of activity. 3. The buildup of activity seemed to be more closely related to preparation to make a saccade than to the generation of the saccade. The buildup developed even in cases when no saccade occurred. 4. The falling phase of the discharge of these saccade-related cells stopped with the end of the saccade (a clipped discharge), shortly after the end of the saccade (partially clipped), or long after the end of the saccade (unclipped). 5. Some cells had closed movement fields in which saccades that were substantially smaller or larger than the optimal amplitude were not associated with increased activity. Other cells tended to have open-ended movement fields without any peripheral border; they were active for all saccades of optimal direction whose amplitudes were equal to or greater than a given amplitude.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Effects of Off-Frequency Detection in Brief-Tone Audiometry

1974 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 576-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Spence ◽  
Lawrence L. Feth
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Temporal Integration ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
High Frequency Hearing Loss ◽  
Frequency Detection ◽  
Stimulus Artifact ◽  
Brief Tones ◽  
High Pass

Many studies of auditory temporal integration by pathological ears have used listeners with an abrupt high-frequency hearing loss. While this configuration may lend itself to use of the listener as his own control, it presents the opportunity for detection of the low-frequency energy of the brief-tone bursts. This study was designed to assess the role of low-frequency energy in the determination of brief-tone thresholds of listeners with such abrupt high-frequency losses. Low-frequency energy was reduced to subthreshold levels by passing the brief tones through a filter system which had a sharp high-pass characteristic. For both normal and impaired listeners, no significant differences in threshold were found between filtered and unfiltered brief tones. Thus, we must conclude that although the opportunity for off-frequency detection is present, the abnormal temporal integration functions cannot be attributed to stimulus artifact.

scholarly journals Minimal basilar membrane motion in low-frequency hearing

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (30) ◽  
pp. E4304-E4310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Warren ◽  
Sripriya Ramamoorthy ◽  
Nikola Ciganović ◽  
Yuan Zhang ◽  
Teresa M. Wilson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
Basilar Membrane ◽  
Stimulus Frequency ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Laser Interferometry ◽  
Outer Hair Cells ◽  
Sound Stimulation

Low-frequency hearing is critically important for speech and music perception, but no mechanical measurements have previously been available from inner ears with intact low-frequency parts. These regions of the cochlea may function in ways different from the extensively studied high-frequency regions, where the sensory outer hair cells produce force that greatly increases the sound-evoked vibrations of the basilar membrane. We used laser interferometry in vitro and optical coherence tomography in vivo to study the low-frequency part of the guinea pig cochlea, and found that sound stimulation caused motion of a minimal portion of the basilar membrane. Outside the region of peak movement, an exponential decline in motion amplitude occurred across the basilar membrane. The moving region had different dependence on stimulus frequency than the vibrations measured near the mechanosensitive stereocilia. This behavior differs substantially from the behavior found in the extensively studied high-frequency regions of the cochlea.

scholarly journals Tenors Not Sopranos: Bio-Mechanical Constraints on Calling Song Frequencies in the Mediterranean Field-Cricket

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thorin Jonsson ◽  
Fernando Montealegre-Z ◽  
Carl D. Soulsbury ◽  
Daniel Robert
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Field Cricket ◽  
Striking Difference ◽  
Destructive Interference ◽  
Coupled Resonators ◽  
Mechanical Constraints ◽  
Close Relatives ◽  
Bush Crickets

Male crickets and their close relatives bush-crickets (Gryllidae and Tettigoniidae, respectively; Orthoptera and Ensifera) attract distant females by producing loud calling songs. In both families, sound is produced by stridulation, the rubbing together of their forewings, whereby the plectrum of one wing is rapidly passed over a serrated file on the opposite wing. The resulting oscillations are amplified by resonating wing regions. A striking difference between Gryllids and Tettigoniids lies in wing morphology and composition of song frequency: Crickets produce mostly low-frequency (2–8 kHz), pure tone signals with highly bilaterally symmetric wings, while bush-crickets use asymmetric wings for high-frequency (10–150 kHz) calls. The evolutionary reasons for this acoustic divergence are unknown. Here, we study the wings of actively stridulating male field-crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) and present vibro-acoustic data suggesting a biophysical restriction to low-frequency song. Using laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) and brain-injections of the neuroactivator eserine to elicit singing, we recorded the topography of wing vibrations during active sound production. In freely vibrating wings, each wing region resonated differently. When wings coupled during stridulation, these differences vanished and all wing regions resonated at an identical frequency, that of the narrow-band song (∼5 kHz). However, imperfections in wing-coupling caused phase shifts between both resonators, introducing destructive interference with increasing phase differences. The effect of destructive interference (amplitude reduction) was observed to be minimal at the typical low frequency calls of crickets, and by maintaining the vibration phase difference below 80°. We show that, with the imperfect coupling observed, cricket song production with two symmetric resonators becomes acoustically inefficient above ∼8 kHz. This evidence reveals a bio-mechanical constraint on the production of high-frequency song whilst using two coupled resonators and provides an explanation as to why crickets, unlike bush-crickets, have not evolved to exploit ultrasonic calling songs.

scholarly journals Transient Abnormalities in Masking Tuning Curve in Early Progressive Hearing Loss Mouse Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Souchal ◽  
Ludimila Labanca ◽  
Sirley Alves da Silva Carvalho ◽  
Luciana Macedo de Resende ◽  
Christelle Blavignac ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Hearing Threshold ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Outer Hair Cells ◽  
Auditory Neuropathy ◽  
Tectorial Membrane ◽  
Cell Degeneration ◽  
Auditory Thresholds ◽  
Distortion Product

Damage to cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) usually affects frequency selectivity in proportion to hearing threshold increase. However, the current clinical heuristics that attributes poor hearing performance despite near-normal auditory sensitivity to auditory neuropathy or “hidden” synaptopathy overlooks possible underlying OHC impairment. Here, we document the part played by OHCs in influencing suprathreshold auditory performance in the presence of noise in a mouse model of progressive hair cell degeneration, the CD1 strain, at postnatal day 18–30 stages when high-frequency auditory thresholds remained near-normal. Nonetheless, total loss of high-frequency distortion product otoacoustic emissions pointed to nonfunctioning basal OHCs. This “discordant profile” came with a huge low-frequency shift of masking tuning curves that plot the level of interfering sound necessary to mask the response to a probe tone, against interfering frequency. Histology revealed intense OHC hair bundle abnormalities in the basal cochlea uncharacteristically associated with OHC survival and preserved coupling with the tectorial membrane. This pattern dismisses the superficial diagnosis of “hidden” neuropathy while underpinning a disorganization of cochlear frequency mapping with optimistic high-frequency auditory thresholds perhaps because responses to high frequencies are apically shifted. The audiometric advantage of frequency transposition is offset by enhanced masking by low-frequency sounds, a finding essential for guiding rehabilitation.

scholarly journals Effects of Neurotrophin-3 on Intrinsic Neuronal Properties at a Central Auditory Structure

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 263310552098044
Author(s):  
Momoko Takahashi ◽  
Jason Tait Sanchez
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Auditory Pathway ◽  
Membrane Properties ◽  
Electrophysiological Properties ◽  
Whole Cell Patch Clamp ◽  
Neurotrophin 3 ◽  
Voltage Dependent ◽  
Brainstem Slices ◽  
Patch Clamp Electrophysiology ◽  
Intrinsic Neuronal Properties

Neurotrophins, a class of growth factor proteins that control neuronal proliferation, morphology, and apoptosis, are found ubiquitously throughout the nervous system. One particular neurotrophin (NT-3) and its cognate tyrosine receptor kinase (TrkC) have recently received attention as a possible therapeutic target for synaptopathic sensorineural hearing loss. Additionally, research shows that NT-3-TrkC signaling plays a role in establishing the sensory organization of frequency topology (ie, tonotopic order) in the cochlea of the peripheral inner ear. However, the neurotrophic effects of NT-3 on central auditory properties are unclear. In this study we examined whether NT-3-TrkC signaling affects the intrinsic electrophysiological properties at a first-order central auditory structure in chicken, known as nucleus magnocellularis (NM). Here, the expression pattern of specific neurotrophins is well known and tightly regulated. By using whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology, we show that NT-3 application to brainstem slices does not affect intrinsic properties of high-frequency neuronal regions but had robust effects for low-frequency neurons, altering voltage-dependent potassium functions, action potential repolarization kinetics, and passive membrane properties. We suggest that NT-3 may contribute to the precise establishment and organization of tonotopy in the central auditory pathway by playing a specialized role in regulating the development of intrinsic neuronal properties of low-frequency NM neurons.

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