Similarities in the Biophysical Properties of Spiral-Ganglion and Vestibular-Ganglion Neurons in Neonatal Rats
The membranes of auditory and vestibular afferent neurons each contain diverse groups of ion channels that lead to heterogeneity in their intrinsic biophysical properties. Pioneering work in both auditory- and vestibular-ganglion physiology have individually examined this remarkable diversity, but t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.710275/full |
| _version_ | 1819017272770953216 |
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| author | Radha Kalluri |
| author_facet | Radha Kalluri |
| author_sort | Radha Kalluri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The membranes of auditory and vestibular afferent neurons each contain diverse groups of ion channels that lead to heterogeneity in their intrinsic biophysical properties. Pioneering work in both auditory- and vestibular-ganglion physiology have individually examined this remarkable diversity, but there are few direct comparisons between the two ganglia. Here the firing patterns recorded by whole-cell patch-clamping in neonatal vestibular- and spiral ganglion neurons are compared. Indicative of an overall heterogeneity in ion channel composition, both ganglia exhibit qualitatively similar firing patterns ranging from sustained-spiking to transient-spiking in response to current injection. The range of resting potentials, voltage thresholds, current thresholds, input-resistances, and first-spike latencies are similarly broad in both ganglion groups. The covariance between several biophysical properties (e.g., resting potential to voltage threshold and their dependence on postnatal age) was similar between the two ganglia. Cell sizes were on average larger and more variable in VGN than in SGN. One sub-group of VGN stood out as having extra-large somata with transient-firing patterns, very low-input resistance, fast first-spike latencies, and required large current amplitudes to induce spiking. Despite these differences, the input resistance per unit area of the large-bodied transient neurons was like that of smaller-bodied transient-firing neurons in both VGN and SGN, thus appearing to be size-scaled versions of other transient-firing neurons. Our analysis reveals that although auditory and vestibular afferents serve very different functions in distinct sensory modalities, their biophysical properties are more closely related by firing pattern and cell size than by sensory modality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T03:00:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b95c01b26daa4993acf7bbd11372f220 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T03:00:54Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-b95c01b26daa4993acf7bbd11372f2202022-12-21T19:18:12ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2021-10-011510.3389/fnins.2021.710275710275Similarities in the Biophysical Properties of Spiral-Ganglion and Vestibular-Ganglion Neurons in Neonatal RatsRadha KalluriThe membranes of auditory and vestibular afferent neurons each contain diverse groups of ion channels that lead to heterogeneity in their intrinsic biophysical properties. Pioneering work in both auditory- and vestibular-ganglion physiology have individually examined this remarkable diversity, but there are few direct comparisons between the two ganglia. Here the firing patterns recorded by whole-cell patch-clamping in neonatal vestibular- and spiral ganglion neurons are compared. Indicative of an overall heterogeneity in ion channel composition, both ganglia exhibit qualitatively similar firing patterns ranging from sustained-spiking to transient-spiking in response to current injection. The range of resting potentials, voltage thresholds, current thresholds, input-resistances, and first-spike latencies are similarly broad in both ganglion groups. The covariance between several biophysical properties (e.g., resting potential to voltage threshold and their dependence on postnatal age) was similar between the two ganglia. Cell sizes were on average larger and more variable in VGN than in SGN. One sub-group of VGN stood out as having extra-large somata with transient-firing patterns, very low-input resistance, fast first-spike latencies, and required large current amplitudes to induce spiking. Despite these differences, the input resistance per unit area of the large-bodied transient neurons was like that of smaller-bodied transient-firing neurons in both VGN and SGN, thus appearing to be size-scaled versions of other transient-firing neurons. Our analysis reveals that although auditory and vestibular afferents serve very different functions in distinct sensory modalities, their biophysical properties are more closely related by firing pattern and cell size than by sensory modality.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.710275/fullion channelsvoltage thresholdvestibular ganglion neuronsspiral ganglion neuronsfiring patternscurrent threshold |
| spellingShingle | Radha Kalluri Similarities in the Biophysical Properties of Spiral-Ganglion and Vestibular-Ganglion Neurons in Neonatal Rats Frontiers in Neuroscience ion channels voltage threshold vestibular ganglion neurons spiral ganglion neurons firing patterns current threshold |
| title | Similarities in the Biophysical Properties of Spiral-Ganglion and Vestibular-Ganglion Neurons in Neonatal Rats |
| title_full | Similarities in the Biophysical Properties of Spiral-Ganglion and Vestibular-Ganglion Neurons in Neonatal Rats |
| title_fullStr | Similarities in the Biophysical Properties of Spiral-Ganglion and Vestibular-Ganglion Neurons in Neonatal Rats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Similarities in the Biophysical Properties of Spiral-Ganglion and Vestibular-Ganglion Neurons in Neonatal Rats |
| title_short | Similarities in the Biophysical Properties of Spiral-Ganglion and Vestibular-Ganglion Neurons in Neonatal Rats |
| title_sort | similarities in the biophysical properties of spiral ganglion and vestibular ganglion neurons in neonatal rats |
| topic | ion channels voltage threshold vestibular ganglion neurons spiral ganglion neurons firing patterns current threshold |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.710275/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT radhakalluri similaritiesinthebiophysicalpropertiesofspiralganglionandvestibularganglionneuronsinneonatalrats |