J Physiol Society Membership
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


J Physiol Volume 566, Number 1, 7-12, July 1, 2005 DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.2004.082214
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
566/1/7    most recent
jphysiol.2004.082214v1
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Fuchs, P. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Fuchs, P. A.
Related Collections
Right arrow Review articles

Symposium Reports

Time and intensity coding at the hair cell's ribbon synapse

Paul Albert Fuchs1

1 The Cochlear Neurotransmission Laboratory, Center for Hearing and Balance, Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21286, USA

The activity of individual afferent neurones in the mammalian cochlea can be driven by neurotransmitter released from a single synaptic ribbon in a single inner hair cell. Thus, a ribbon synapse must be able to transmit all the information on sound frequency, intensity and timing carried centrally. This task is made still more demanding by the process of binaural sound localization that utilizes separate computations of time and intensity, with temporal resolution as fine as 10 µs in central nuclei. These computations may rely in part on the fact that the response phase (at the characteristic frequency) of individual afferent neurones is invariant with intensity. Somehow, the ribbon synapse can provide stronger synaptic drive to signal varying intensity, without accompanying changes in transmission time that ordinarily occur during chemical neurotransmission. Recent ultrastructural and functional studies suggest features of the ribbon that may underlie these capabilities.

(Received 26 December 2004; accepted after revision 15 April 2005; first published online 21 April 2005)
Corresponding author P. A. Fuchs: 521 Traylor Building, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21205-2195, USA. Email: pfuchs{at}jhmi.edu


This report was presented at The Journal of Physiology Symposium on The Senses, San Diego, CA, USA, 22 October 2004. It was commissioned by the Editorial Board and reflects the views of the authors.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
J. Neurosci.Home page
V. G. Magupalli, K. Schwarz, K. Alpadi, S. Natarajan, G. M. Seigel, and F. Schmitz
Multiple RIBEYE-RIBEYE Interactions Create a Dynamic Scaffold for the Formation of Synaptic Ribbons
J. Neurosci., August 6, 2008; 28(32): 7954 - 7967.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Neurosci.Home page
S. L. Johnson, A. Forge, M. Knipper, S. Munkner, and W. Marcotti
Tonotopic Variation in the Calcium Dependence of Neurotransmitter Release and Vesicle Pool Replenishment at Mammalian Auditory Ribbon Synapses
J. Neurosci., July 23, 2008; 28(30): 7670 - 7678.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Neurosci.Home page
M. Beurg, S. Safieddine, I. Roux, Y. Bouleau, C. Petit, and D. Dulon
Calcium- and Otoferlin-Dependent Exocytosis by Immature Outer Hair Cells
J. Neurosci., February 20, 2008; 28(8): 1798 - 1803.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Physiol.Home page
S. Lee, O. Briklin, H. Hiel, and P. Fuchs
Calcium-dependent inactivation of calcium channels in cochlear hair cells of the chicken
J. Physiol., September 15, 2007; 583(3): 909 - 922.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Neurosci.Home page
P. Heil, H. Neubauer, D. R. F. Irvine, and M. Brown
Spontaneous Activity of Auditory-Nerve Fibers: Insights into Stochastic Processes at Ribbon Synapses
J. Neurosci., August 1, 2007; 27(31): 8457 - 8474.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
PhysiologyHome page
F. Mammano, M. Bortolozzi, S. Ortolano, and F. Anselmi
Ca2+ Signaling in the Inner Ear
Physiology, April 1, 2007; 22(2): 131 - 144.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Neurosci.Home page
G. Sendin, A. V. Bulankina, D. Riedel, and T. Moser
Maturation of Ribbon Synapses in Hair Cells Is Driven by Thyroid Hormone
J. Neurosci., March 21, 2007; 27(12): 3163 - 3173.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
R. Ficarella, F. Di Leva, M. Bortolozzi, S. Ortolano, F. Donaudy, M. Petrillo, S. Melchionda, A. Lelli, T. Domi, L. Fedrizzi, et al.
A functional study of plasma-membrane calcium-pump isoform 2 mutants causing digenic deafness
PNAS, January 30, 2007; 104(5): 1516 - 1521.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Physiol.Home page
T. Moser, A. Neef, and D. Khimich
Mechanisms underlying the temporal precision of sound coding at the inner hair cell ribbon synapse
J. Physiol., October 1, 2006; 576(1): 55 - 62.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Physiol.Home page
K Gegenfurtner and C. J Kros
The senses
J. Physiol., July 1, 2005; 566(1): 5 - 5.
[Full Text] [PDF]




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2005 The Physiological Society.