TY - JOUR
T1 - Convergence of excitatory and inhibitory hair cell transmitters shapes vestibular afferent responses
AU - Holstein, Gay R.
AU - Rabbitt, Richard D.
AU - Martinelli, Giorgio P.
AU - Friedrich, Victor L.
AU - Boyle, Richard D.
AU - Highstein, Stephen M.
PY - 2004/11/2
Y1 - 2004/11/2
N2 - The vestibular semicircular canals respond to angular acceleration that is integrated to angular velocity by the biofluid mechanics of the canals and is the primary origin of afferent responses encoding velocity. Surprisingly, some afferents actually report angular acceleration. Our data indicate that hair-cell/afferent synapses introduce a mathematical derivative in these afferents that partially cancels the biomechanical integration and results in discharge rates encoding angular acceleration. We examined the role of convergent synaptic inputs from hair cells to this mathematical differentiation. A significant reduction in the order of the differentiation was observed for low-frequency stimuli after γ-aminobutyric acid type B receptor antagonist administration. Results demonstrate that γ-aminobutyric acid participates in shaping the temporal dynamics of afferent responses.
AB - The vestibular semicircular canals respond to angular acceleration that is integrated to angular velocity by the biofluid mechanics of the canals and is the primary origin of afferent responses encoding velocity. Surprisingly, some afferents actually report angular acceleration. Our data indicate that hair-cell/afferent synapses introduce a mathematical derivative in these afferents that partially cancels the biomechanical integration and results in discharge rates encoding angular acceleration. We examined the role of convergent synaptic inputs from hair cells to this mathematical differentiation. A significant reduction in the order of the differentiation was observed for low-frequency stimuli after γ-aminobutyric acid type B receptor antagonist administration. Results demonstrate that γ-aminobutyric acid participates in shaping the temporal dynamics of afferent responses.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=8144220338&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.0402824101
DO - 10.1073/pnas.0402824101
M3 - Article
C2 - 15505229
AN - SCOPUS:8144220338
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 101
SP - 15766
EP - 15771
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 44
ER -