The Mammalian Auditory Pathway Neuroanatomy

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of com prehensive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modem auditory research. It is aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators. The volumes will introduce new investigators to important aspects of hearing science and will help established inves tigators to better understand the fundamental theories and data in fields of hearing that they may not normally follow closely. Each volume is intended to present a particular topic comprehensively, and each chapter will serve as a synthetic overview and guide to the literature. As such, the chapters present neither exhaustive data reviews nor original research that has not yet appeared in peer-reviewed journals. The series focusses on topics that have developed a solid data and con ceptual foundation rather than on those for which a literature is only beginning to develop. New research areas will be covered on a timely basis in the series as they begin to mature.

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of com prehensive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modern auditory research. It is aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators. The volumes will introduce new investigators to important aspects of hearing science and will help established inves tigators to better understand the fundamental theories and data in fields of hearing that they may not normally follow closely. Each volume is intended to present a particular topic comprehensively, and each chapter will serve as a synthetic overview and guide to the literature. As such, the chapters present neither exhaustive data reviews nor original research that has not yet appeared in peer-reviewed journals. The series focusses on topics that have developed a solid data and con ceptual foundation rather than on those for which a literature is only beginning to develop. New research areas will be covered on a timely basis in the series as they begin to mature.

The auditory system is a complex neural system composed of many types of neurons connected into networks. One feature that sets the auditory system apart from other sensory systems, such as somatosensory or visual systems, is the many stages of neural processing that occur between the ear in the periphery and the cerebral cortex. Each stage is composed of specialized types of neurons connected in specific microcircuits that perform computations on the information about sound. To understand this processing, all the tools of neuroscience must be employed. The proposed text integrates cell biology, synaptic physiology, and electrophysiology to fully develop the topic, presenting an overview of the functional anatomy of the central auditory system. It is organized based on the neuronal connectivity of the central auditory system, which emphasizes the neurons, their synaptic organization, and their formation of functional pathways and microcircuits. The goal of the book is to stimulate research into the cell biology of the central auditory system and the characteristics of the specific neurons and connections that are necessary for normal hearing. Future research on the development of the central auditory including that employing stem cells will require such information in order to engineer appropriate therapeutic approaches. ​

Since the last symposium on "Neuronal Mechanisms of Hearing" held in Prague in 1980 and published in the volume of the same name (J. Syka and L. Aitkin, Eds. , Plenum Press, 1981), remarkable progress has been achieved in the understanding of the auditory system. A variety of new ideas and new methods have emerged. This progress can be easily documented by comparing the volume based on the 1980 Symposium with the program for the 1987 Symposium. For example, there were 45 contributions to auditory physiology in each symposium but there were 27 contributions focusing on anatomy in 1987 as compared to 7 in 1980, and perhaps most telling, there were 12 contributions to the neurochemistry of the system in 1987 while there were only 3 in 1980. In terms of percentages of contributions, neuroanatomy rose from 13% to 32% and neurochemistry (or chemical anatomy) rose from 5% in 1980 to 14% in 1987. These increases in the numbers and proportions of anatomical and neurochemical contributions undoubtedly reflects the increasing availabil ity and rising expertise in the new neuroanatomica1 and biochemical techniques most notably, tract-tracing by exploitation of axonal transport or by intracellular micro-injection methods, and neurotransmitter identifi cation by use of immunocytochemistry or receptor-binding techniques. New ideas have emerged on the function of cochlear hair cells particularly in connection with olivococh1ear bundle stimulation and supported by findings of contractile proteins in outer hair cells.

This text explores the shared and contrasting strategies for signalling and processing sensory information within auditory and tactile sytems and describes their physiologic organization. It brings together researchers in aspects of sensory physiology whose studies are linked by their reliance upon mechanoreceptor mechanisms. The book has a strong functional emphasis and is based on electrophysiological analyses from the receptor level to the anatomic level, probing the sensory and motor areas of the cerebral cortex. It presents recent research data on mechanisms of auditory transduction, efferent control of cochlear function, the coding of information about sound intensity, directional aspects of hearing, frequency parameters of simple and complex vibrotactile stimuli, development and reorganization within auditory tactile systems, the application of fundamental sensory research to the problems of deafness.

A summary of how the electrical signals used to represent sounds are encoded and interpreted through the integrated roles of various nuclei. This volume builds on the information about the anatomy and physiology of the auditory pathway found in volumes 1 and 2 of the SHAR series. While the first two volumes describe the structure and function of auditory pathways, this one explains how these pathways lead to an animal's ability to localize and interpret sounds.