The innervation of the organ of Corti in the rat.

To date our knowledge of the baso-apical distribution of the afferent and efferent nerve fibers innervating the organ of Corti is only fragmentary. This study makes an effort to lay the basis for a comprehensive analysis of cochlear innervation. Using a quantitative electronmicroscopic method, the fiber density of all cochlear fibers along the entire length of the cochlear duct was investigated in adult rats, Rattus norvegicus.

Anatomical mapping of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-like and glutamate decarboxylase (GAD)-like immunoreactivity in outer hair cell efferents in adult rats.

The distribution of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-like and glutamate decarboxylase (GAD)-like immunoreactivity in the cochleae of 15 adult Wistar white rats was investigated using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) technique. A monoclonal antibody to ChAT and a polyclonal antiserum to GAD were used. Immunoreaction was investigated quantitatively, in the electron microscope, on tangential sections of the tunnel of Corti and the rows of outer hair cells.

The organ of Corti in the bat Hipposideros bicolor.

The bat Hipposideros bicolor (Hipposideridae, Microchiroptera) is the mammalian species with the highest upper limit of hearing in which the structure of the organ of Corti has been studied. H. bicolor emits pure tone echo-locating signals of 153 kHz, compensates for Doppler shifts in the echo and hears ultrasonic frequencies up to 200 kHz (Neuweiler et al.

ChAT-like immunoreactivity of olivocochlear fibres on rat outer hair cells during the postnatal development.

Several studies present a great deal of information about putative efferent neurotransmitters and their distribution in the adult and developing cochlea. Anatomical mapping of outer hair cell efferent fibres during ontogeny is still not available. Using quantitative electron microscopy in combination with immunocytochemistry, the distribution of ChAT-like immunoreactivity in the developing rat was investigated.