Submicroscopic Structure Of The Inner Ear

Submicroscopic Structure of the Inner Ear focuses on the submicroscopic structure of the inner ear of mammals, as investigated in guinea pigs, cats, chinchillas, squirrel-monkeys, and rats. This book consists of experimental investigations, such as the efferent innervation of the organ of Corti; ototoxicity of some antibiotics; acoustic trauma; and circulation of the labyrinthine fluids. Investigations on the human labyrinth, normal and affected by Meniere's disease, are also covered. This text likewise describes the combined electron-microscopic and electrophysiological research studies that provide a basis for a correlation of the submicroscopic structure and function of the sensory cells. A review of the main light-microscopic features is included for those who are not familiar with the morphology of the inner ear. This publication is intended for students or individuals working on the morphology of the ear, but is also a good reference for anatomists, otologists, zoologists, psychologists, and neurophysiologists interested in the structure of the inner ear.

Knowledge about the structure and function of the inner ear is vital to an understanding of vertebrate hearing. This volume presents a detailed overview of the mammalian cochlea from its anatomy and physiology to its biophysics and biochemistry. The nine review chapters, written by internationally distinguished auditory researchers, provide a detailed and unified introduction to sound processing in the cochlea and the steps by which the ensuing signals are prepared for the central nervous system.

Basic Mechanisms in Hearing is a collection of papers that discusses the function of the auditory system covering its ultrastructure, physiology, and the mechanism's connection with experimental psychology. Papers review the mechanics, morphology, and physiology of the cochlear, including the physiology of individual hair cells and their synapses. One paper examines the combined physiological and anatomical studies of stimulus coding in the mammalian auditory nervous system. The results of these studies pertain to the latency, frequency selectivity, and time pattern of responses to short tone bursts. Other research compare the cochlear nerve, behavioral, and psychophysical frequency selectivity which show that frequency selectivity of the auditory system occurs at the level of the cochlear nerve, becoming downgraded in end-organ deafness. Other papers discuss neural coding at higher levels such as the feature extraction in the auditory system of bats. Some papers also analyze the specialized hearing mechanisms in animals, for example, the echolocation of bats and in some insects, the function of the swimbladder in fish hearing, as well as the "invertebrate frequency analyzer" in the locust ear. Physiologists, neurophysiologists, neurobiologists, general medical practioners, and EENT specialists will find this collection valuable.

When seen from an outsider's vantage point, the development of knowledge in the sensory sciences must appear massive and the result of some carefully followed master plan. In reality, it is the result of numerous relatively independent human endeavors shaped by application of the scientific method. The comprehensive construction of quantitative theories of sense organ function has occurred only recently -but at an explosive rate prefaced by centuries of expansion in the physical sciences. Predicated on this growth, the twentieth century may become known as the age of the biological sciences. With the exception of a modest number of intellectual giants, there were few contributors to the foundations of the sensory sciences before the dawn of this century. At least 90% of existing knowledge has been produced by scientists working in laboratories founded since 1920. If any single scientist and his laboratory may be identified with the growth in the sensory sciences, it is EDGAR DOUGLAS ADRIAN, First Baron of Cambridge and leader of the Physiological Laboratory at Cambridge University, England. Lord ADRIAN'S influence upon the sensory sciences was great, not only in terms of his contribution to knowledge itself but also through the influence which he exerted upon numerous young scientists who spent weeks or years at the Cambridge laboratory and who later returned to their homelands and colleagues with the seeds of vigorous research and quantitative inquiry firmly implanted.

The membranous labyrinth lies enclosed in the very hard petrous part of the temporal bone and, as the name implies, its structure is extremely complex. This may explain why our knowledge of this organ and the vestibular sensory regions within it, is not yet satisfactory. In recent years the rapid development of space research has provided a power ful stimulus to our interest in the vestibular apparatus. This has found expression in annual symposia, in which the role of the vestibular organs in the exploration of space is discussed. However, little is known as yet about the influence upon the equilibrial apparatus, during space flight, of weightlessness and other related conditions. The inner ear has also acquired increased significance from an otosurgical point of view. Operations are today performed in regions previously inaccessible to surgery. This requires exact knowledge of anatomical details and of relations between the different structures in the inner ear.

The Vestibular System is a collection of papers presented at the 1973 Symposium on the Vestibular System, organized and held at the University of Chicago. This symposium provides a body of reviews and observations on the anatomical, physiological, and clinical aspects of the vestibular system. This book is composed of seven parts encompassing 28 chapters. The first part focuses on the ultrastructure of the peripheral organs and the vestibular pathways to the cerebellum, the spinal cord, and the nuclei of the extraocular muscles. The subsequent part presents the basic information on knowledge of peripheral mechanisms and the functional relations between the vestibular system, cerebellum, oculomotor system, spinal cord and cortex. These topics are followed by descriptions of vestibular disorders induced by a variety of influences or procedures, such as nuclear lesions, motion sickness, and drugs. The next section describes the methods of testing vestibular function, such as electronystagmography. This section serves as an introduction to a panel discussion on eye movements. Lastly, reviews and points of view on peripheral and central vestibular disorders are covered in the remaining sections. This work is of great benefit to anatomists, physiologists, and clinicians.

During recent years auditory research has advanced quite rapidly in the area of experimental psychology as well as in that of physiology. Scientists working in both areas have in cornrnon the study of the process in HEARING, yet different scientific areas always tend to diverge. A SYMPOSIUM ON PSY CHOPHYSICAL MODELS AND PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTS IN HEARING was or ganized for the exchange of information and to stimulate dis cussion between research workers in psychoacoustics, neurophy siology, anatomy, morphology and hydromechanics. The basic aim of holding this syrnposium was to halt the divergence and to initiate the kind of multi-disciplinary research that will be need ed to elucidate the hearing process as a whole. The present proceedings comprise the papers, which were circulated to the participants two months before the syrnposium and discussed during the syrnposium, together with some cornrnents and additional re marks. These cornrnents and rernarks do not, however, represent the full discussions but only the parts available in written form. We have arranged the material in five sections: I. Structure and Neurobiology of the Inner Ear II. Cochlear Mechanisms III. Auditory Frequency Analysis IV. Auditory Time Analysis V. Nonlinear Effects Within the limits of a syrnposium, none of these topics could be treated comprehensively; moreover, most of the papers concerned problems having several aspects.