Spiral Ganglion Neuron

A neurons cell type of the human nervous system.

Primary auditory neuron that carries hair-cell signals to the brainstem and is the neural target pathway for cochlear implants.

Function

Transmission of auditory information from cochlear hair cells to the cochlear nucleus; encodes timing, frequency, and intensity in auditory-nerve activity. (Sound transduction itself is performed by cochlear hair cells, not these neurons.)

Morphology

Bipolar and myelinated (type I, ~90-95%); type II are pseudounipolar and unmyelinated

Specification

  • Neurotransmitter: Glutamate
  • Receptors: AMPA (postsynaptic to hair cells)
  • Location: Spiral ganglion (cochlea)
  • Projections: Cochlear nucleus (brainstem)
  • Firing: Phase-locked to sound
  • Markers: SLC17A7/VGLUT1; PVALB/parvalbumin; POU4F1/BRN3A; NEFH/NF200; NTRK2/TrkB and NTRK3/TrkC (subtype markers)
  • Developmental origin: Otic placode
  • Disease: Sensorineural hearing loss
  • Cell Ontology: CL:0011113

References

  1. Carricondo F & Romero-Gómez B (2019). The Cochlear Spiral Ganglion Neurons: The Auditory Portion of the VIII Nerve.. Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) 302 PMID 29659185
  2. Zhang KD & Coate TM (2017). Recent advances in the development and function of type II spiral ganglion neurons in the mammalian inner ear.. Seminars in cell & developmental biology 65 PMID 27760385

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