NEUR 0010 - Chapter 11 Flashcards

1
Q

What is the outer ear?

A

Pinna and auditory canal

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2
Q

What is the middle ear?

A

TM and ossicles

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3
Q

What is the inner ear?

A

Oval window and structures medial to it; cochlea

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4
Q

What is the thalamic relay center for audition (like the LGN)?

A

MGN

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5
Q

Where is the primary auditory cortex located?

A

Temporal lobe

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6
Q

What is the Eustachian tube?

A

Usually closed; descends from the ossicles in the middle ear; continuous with nasal cavity

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7
Q

Why is it a “problem” that the cochlea is fluid-filled?

A

Fluid is harder to move by sound waves; needs the ossicles to amplify things

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8
Q

What is the attenuation reflex of the ear?

A

At the onset of loud sound, muscles attached to ossicles make their movement more rigid, diminishing sound conduction and preventing damage

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9
Q

What frequencies is sound attenuation greatest at?

A

Low frequencies; not high frequencies

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10
Q

Why is attenuation good for speech recognition?

A

“picks out” the high-frequencies speech out of low-frequency noise

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11
Q

What happens when auditory spiral ganglion enter the brainstem?

A

Enter the brainstem via auditory-vestibular nerve; enter the medulla’s dorsal and ventral cochlear nuclei, ipsilateral to where they originated (branches to reach both), then goes through multiple parallel pathways

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12
Q

What happens when cells in the ventral cochlear nucleus project their axons to the superior olive of the brainstem?

A

Axons of superior olivary neurons project to the lateral lemniscus, then to the inferior colliculus in the midbrain

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13
Q

How does the dorsal cochlear nucleus’s projections to the inferior colliculus differ from the ventral cochlear nucleus’s?

A

Bypasses the superior olive

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14
Q

Where do all ascending auditory pathways converge?

A

Inferior colliculus

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15
Q

Where do auditory neurons in the inferior colliculus project their axons to?

A

The MGN in the temporal lobe, and then to auditory cortex

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16
Q

What is different about cochlear nucleus input from the rest of the other auditory nuclei in the brain stem?

A

Cochlear nuclei receive input from ipsilateral ear only; other brain stem auditory nuclei receive input from both ears

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17
Q

What is the only way brain stem damage can produce deafness in one ear only?

A

Damage to the cochlear nuclei

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18
Q

Why do most spiral ganglion cells respond to sound in a limited frequency range?

A

Because they receive input from only one inner hair cell and so fire APs only when that specific portion of the basilar membrane vibrates

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19
Q

What is characteristic frequency?

A

The one frequency at which an auditory neuron is most sensitive

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20
Q

What are the two ways sound intensity is encoded?

A

Firing rates of neurons, number of active neurons

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21
Q

What happens to the basilar membrane vibrations as sound intensity increases?

A

Greater amplitude of vibrations: causes membrane potential to be more de/hyper polarized, greater rate of AP firing; Greater distance of vibrations: activation of more hair cells, so broader frequency range for responses

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22
Q

What is tonotopy?

A

Systematic organization of characteristic frequency within an auditory structure

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23
Q

What part of the basilar membrane is more sensitive to high frequency vs low?

A

High at base, low at apex

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24
Q

What is phase locking?

A

The consistent firing of a cell at the same phase of a sound wave; fires APs at either peaks/troughs/etc. of the wave

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25
Q

What is the volley principle?

A

When intermediate sound frequencies are represented by the pooled activity of a number of neurons, each of which fires in phase-locked manner

26
Q

Why are frequencies above 4Hz represented to tonotopy alone?

A

Too fast for APs to accurately represent timing; phase locking can’t occur; APs must fire at random phases

27
Q

What are the two mechanisms used to localize horizontal sound?

A

Interaural time delay and interaural intensity difference

28
Q

What causes interaural intensity difference?

A

Sound shadowing by your head

29
Q

Which stages of the auditory pathway are monaural vs binaural?

A

Only the neurons in the cochlear nuclei are monaural; everything else is binaural

30
Q

Where is the first structure that has binaural hearing?

A

Superior olive

31
Q

What is the main contributor for vertical sound localization?

A

The reflections of the pinna; angles back in due to the little nub in the ear :)

32
Q

How do neurons in the MGN reach the cortex?

A

By extending axons through the auditory radiation

33
Q

What is the laminal cell layout of the auditory cortex?

A

From Layer 1 to 6: few cells bodies – small pyramidal – small pyramidal – granule – large pyramidal– large pyramidal

34
Q

What columns are present in auditory cortex?

A

Frequency-dominant columns

35
Q

What are isofrequency bands?

A

Run across A1, with similar characteristic frequencies

36
Q

What are the two main organizational principles of the auditory cortex?

A

Tonotopic organization; columns with similar binaural interaction

37
Q

Mammalian organs of balance/hearing evolved from what structure?

A

Lateral line organs

38
Q

How are all hair structures connected in mammals?

A

By the vestibular labyrinth!

39
Q

What are the two main structures of the non-auditory vestibular labyrinth?

A

Otolith organs and semicircular canals

40
Q

What are otolith organs?

A

Detect force of gravity, head tilt

41
Q

What are semicircular canals?

A

Sensitive to head rotation

42
Q

What are the otolith organs?

A

Saccule and utricle

43
Q

What is Scarpa’s ganglion?

A

Location of cell bodies from vestibular nerve axons

44
Q

What is the otolith organ’s macula?

A

Sensory epithelium, vertically oriented in the saccule, horizontally oriented in the utricle

45
Q

What are otoliths?

A

Little calcium carbonate crystals on top of the gelatinous cap of the orolith organs; exert pressure with movement, creating a force on the gelatinous cap and moving the hair bundles

46
Q

What a kinocilium?

A

In otolith organs: one especially tall cilia that cause depolarizing excitatory receptor potential when bent

47
Q

What is the ampulla?

A

Bulge in the semicircular canal; location of clusters of hair cells within a sheet of crista

48
Q

What is the cupula?

A

Gelatinous area in the middle of the ampulla

49
Q

What is the vestibulo-ocular reflex?

A

Keeps your eyes pointed in a particular direction throughout other motion; automatically instructs extraocular muscles to keep the eye in place

50
Q

What is the predominant ionic composition of perilymph?

A

Low K+, high Na+

51
Q

What is the predominant ionic composition of endolymph?

A

High K+, low Na+

52
Q

What is the endocochlear potential?

A

80 mV

53
Q

What causes the endocochlear potential?

A

Stria vascularis pumps in K+ and pumps out Na+

54
Q

What do the rods of Corti do?

A

Span the distance between basilar membrane and reticular lamina: provide structural support

55
Q

Where do hair cells synapse in the ear?

A

In neurons whose cell bodies are in the spiral ganglion in the modiolus

56
Q

What kind of neurons are spiral ganglion cells?

A

Bipolar

57
Q

How do TRPA1 channels make stereocilia very sensitive to soft sounds?

A

Connected to elastic filament tip links to adjacent cilium

58
Q

How does a tip link work?

A

When the cell is bent, the tip link is stretched/compressed, increasing or decreasing K+ influx and causing depolarization/hyperpolarization by activating Ca++ channels

59
Q

Why does K+ influx depolarize hair cells, unlike in most other cells?

A

Unusually high K+ concentration in endolymph, causing Ek to be 0, also high voltage gradient favoring it

60
Q

Which type of hair cell can share a single spiral ganglion cell?

A

Outer hair cells

61
Q

How many spiral ganglion cells does one inner hair cell feed?

A

Many!

62
Q

Why are outer hair cells cochlear amplifiers?

A

Motor proteins called proteins change the outer hair cell length; so outer hair cells respond with change in length and change in receptor potential, allowing sound signal amplification