Vestibular System Flashcards
What kind of receptors are the hair cells in the vestibular cells?
mechanoreceptors that respond to gravity, movement, vibration, and pressure
What is a statocyst? What can it detect?
- small organ of balance and orientation in some aquatic invertebrates, consisting of a sensory vesicle or cell containing statoliths (sand or calcium carbonate)
- detect direction of gravity and direction of movement
What kind of system of hair cells do fish and aquatic amphibians have? What does this system detect?
lateral line system; detects movement of water, water pressure changes, vibrations
Which end of the lateral line evolved into the inner ear? What does the inner ear contain? What is the function of the inner ear?
- anterior end of lateral line
- contain vestibular apparatus and cochlear
- function = balance and audition
label the diagram of the inner ear
slide 6
TRUE or FALSE: kinocilia are larger than stereocilia
TRUE
How many kinocilia are there in a hair bundle? stereocilia?
- 1 kinocilium
- 40-70 stereocilia
Where are cilia longest? shortest?
- longest at vestibular canals
- shortest at base of cochlea
What makes stereocilia rigid but bend at the base?
actin
What are tip-links?
connect tops of each stereocilium with the adjacent larger cilium along the axis of the hair bundle (towards kinocilium)
What are lateral links?
connect neighbouring stereocilia so when one bends, the rest bend too
TRUE or FALSE: hair cells have axons and they release GABA to sensory afferents
FALSE: do NOT have axons; release GLUTAMATE
What kind of synapses do hair cells make?
ribbon synapses
What is a ribbon synapse?
on-going release of glutamate because of L-type Ca2+ channels, which are long-opening and have little inactivation
Do hair cells receive efferent inputs? If yes, what NT is used? Are the effects excitatory of inhibitory?
- yes, hair cells receive efferent inputs
- ACh
- excitatory AND inhibitory
TRUE or FALSE: hair cells work the same in lateral line, vestibular, and auditory systems
TRUE
TRUE or FALSE: movement toward the kinocilium depolarizes the hair cell. opposite movement hyperpolarizes the cell
TRUE
How are hair cells depolarized? Be specific.
- hair cell displaced towards kinocilium
- channels near tip-links open as they stretch (i.e. tip link pulls open ion channels)
What is the smallest displacement of hair cell that can be detected? How much of a depolarization does this cause in the hair cell?
- as small as 1 nm
- causes 0.2 mV change