TY - JOUR
T1 - Acoustic response properties of lagenar nerve fibers in the sleeper goby, Dormitator latifrons
AU - Lu, Z.
AU - Xu, Z.
AU - Buchser, W. J.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This work was supported by University of Miami start-up funds and grants R29 DC03275 and R01 DC03275 to Z.L. from the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). William Evoy and Seth Tomchik provided helpful comments on the manuscript. Seth Tomchik assisted in the measurement of lagenar orientation. Two anonymous reviewers provided specific comments to improve the clarity of the manuscript. The animal care and use protocol used in this study complies with the Principles of Animal Care, publication No. 86-23, revised 1985 of the NIH, and was approved by the University of Miami Animal Care and Use Committee.
PY - 2003/12
Y1 - 2003/12
N2 - Auditory and vestibular functions of otolithic organs vary among vertebrate taxa. The saccule has been considered a major hearing organ in many fishes. However, little is known about the auditory role of the lagena in fishes. In this study we analyzed directional and frequency responses from single lagenar fibers of Dormitator latifrons to linear accelerations that simulate underwater acoustic particle motion. Characteristic frequencies of the lagenar fibers fell into two groups: ≤ 50 Hz and 80-125 Hz. We observed various temporal response patterns: strong phase-locking, double phase-locking, phase-locked bursting, and non-phase-locked bursting. Some bursting responses have not been previously observed in vertebrate otolithic nerve fibers. Lagenar fibers could respond to accelerations as small as 1.1 mm s-2. Like saccular fibers, lagenar fibers were directionally responsive and decreased directional selectivity with stimulus level. Best response axes of the lagenar fibers clustered around the lagenar longitudinal axis in the horizontal plane, but distributed in a diversity of axes in the mid-sagittal plane, which generally reflect morphological polarizations of hair cells in the lagena. We conclude that the lagena of D. latifrons plays a role in sound localization in elevation, particularly at high stimulus intensities where responses of most saccular fibers are saturated.
AB - Auditory and vestibular functions of otolithic organs vary among vertebrate taxa. The saccule has been considered a major hearing organ in many fishes. However, little is known about the auditory role of the lagena in fishes. In this study we analyzed directional and frequency responses from single lagenar fibers of Dormitator latifrons to linear accelerations that simulate underwater acoustic particle motion. Characteristic frequencies of the lagenar fibers fell into two groups: ≤ 50 Hz and 80-125 Hz. We observed various temporal response patterns: strong phase-locking, double phase-locking, phase-locked bursting, and non-phase-locked bursting. Some bursting responses have not been previously observed in vertebrate otolithic nerve fibers. Lagenar fibers could respond to accelerations as small as 1.1 mm s-2. Like saccular fibers, lagenar fibers were directionally responsive and decreased directional selectivity with stimulus level. Best response axes of the lagenar fibers clustered around the lagenar longitudinal axis in the horizontal plane, but distributed in a diversity of axes in the mid-sagittal plane, which generally reflect morphological polarizations of hair cells in the lagena. We conclude that the lagena of D. latifrons plays a role in sound localization in elevation, particularly at high stimulus intensities where responses of most saccular fibers are saturated.
KW - Directional selectivity
KW - Ear
KW - Hearing
KW - Otolithic organ
KW - Tuning
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0347664208&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00359-003-0462-7
DO - 10.1007/s00359-003-0462-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 14586545
AN - SCOPUS:0347664208
SN - 0340-7594
VL - 189
SP - 889
EP - 905
JO - Journal of Comparative Physiology A
JF - Journal of Comparative Physiology A
IS - 12
ER -