Structural Basis for Directional Sensitivity in Cochlear and Vestibular Sensory Receptors

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The sensory cells of the inner ear are mechanoreceptor cells responding to shearing forces acting upon the sensory hair bundle protruding from the surface of each cell. The adequate stimulus for these cells is the action of either gravitational or vibratory forces. Afferent nerve fibers from bipolar ganglion cells in the neighborhood of the sensory cells and efferent fibers originating in the medulla oblongata supply each one of the sensory cells. The impulse traffic in the afferent nerve is regulated by the sensory cells and by the activity in the efferent fibers. Although we are well acquainted with the general performance of the inner ear receptors and what role they play in the perception and informative action of the sense organs, several questions about the transducive mechanism of the cells are unsolved. This paper is meant to supply some cytological data about labyrinthine receptor cells which might serve as...