The cochlear nerve (also auditory nerve or acoustic nerve) is one of two parts of the

vestibulocochlear nerve The vestibulocochlear nerve or auditory vestibular nerve, also known as the eighth cranial nerve, cranial nerve VIII, or simply CN VIII, is a cranial nerve that transmits sound and equilibrium (balance) information from the inner ear to the bra ...

, a cranial nerve present in amniotes, the other part being the vestibular nerve. The cochlear nerve carries auditory sensory information from the

cochlea The cochlea is the part of the inner ear involved in hearing. It is a spiral-shaped cavity in the bony labyrinth, in humans making 2.75 turns around its axis, the modiolus. A core component of the cochlea is the Organ of Corti, the sensory or ...

of the inner ear directly to the

brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a ve ...

. The other portion of the vestibulocochlear nerve is the

vestibular nerve The vestibular nerve is one of the two branches of the vestibulocochlear nerve (the cochlear nerve being the other). In humans the vestibular nerve transmits sensory information transmitted by vestibular hair cells located in the two otolith orga ...

, which carries spatial orientation information to the brain from the

semicircular canals The semicircular canals or semicircular ducts are three semicircular, interconnected tubes located in the innermost part of each ear, the inner ear. The three canals are the horizontal, superior and posterior semicircular canals. Structure The ...

, also known as semicircular ducts.

Anatomy and connections

In terms of anatomy, an auditory nerve fiber is either bipolar or unipolar, with its distal projection being called the peripheral process, and its proximal projection being called the

axon An axon (from Greek ἄξων ''áxōn'', axis), or nerve fiber (or nerve fibre: see spelling differences), is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, in vertebrates, that typically conducts electrical impulses known as action p ...

; these two projections are also known as the "peripheral axon" and the "central axon", respectively. The peripheral process is sometimes referred to as a

dendrite Dendrites (from Greek δένδρον ''déndron'', "tree"), also dendrons, are branched protoplasmic extensions of a nerve cell that propagate the electrochemical stimulation received from other neural cells to the cell body, or soma, of the ...

, although that term is somewhat inaccurate. Unlike the typical dendrite, the peripheral process generates and conducts

action potential An action potential occurs when the membrane potential of a specific cell location rapidly rises and falls. This depolarization then causes adjacent locations to similarly depolarize. Action potentials occur in several types of animal cells, ...

s, which then "jump" across the cell body (or ''soma'') and continue to propagate along the central axon. In this respect, auditory nerve fibers are somewhat unusual in that action potentials pass through the soma. Both the peripheral process and the axon are

myelin Myelin is a lipid-rich material that surrounds nerve cell axons (the nervous system's "wires") to insulate them and increase the rate at which electrical impulses (called action potentials) are passed along the axon. The myelinated axon can be ...

ated. In humans, there are on average 30,000 nerve fibers within the cochlear nerve. The number of fibers varies significantly across species; the domestic cat, for example, has an average of 50,000 fibers. The peripheral axons of auditory nerve fibers form synaptic connections with the hair cells of the

via ribbon synapses using the neurotransmitter glutamate. The central axons form synaptic connections with cells in the

cochlear nucleus The cochlear nuclear (CN) complex comprises two cranial nerve nuclei in the human brainstem, the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN) and the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN). The ventral cochlear nucleus is unlayered whereas the dorsal cochlear nucle ...

of the brainstem. The cell bodies of the cochlear nerve lie within the cochlea and collectively form the

spiral ganglion The spiral (cochlear) ganglion is a group of neuron cell bodies in the modiolus, the conical central axis of the cochlea. These bipolar neurons innervate the hair cells of the organ of Corti. They project their axons to the ventral and dorsal co ...

, named for the spiral shape it shares with the cochlea. These central axons exit the cochlea at its base and form a nerve trunk, which, in humans, is approximately one inch long. This travels in parallel with the vestibular nerves through the internal auditory canal, through which it connects to the brainstem. There, its fibers synapse with the cell bodies of the

Types of neurons

In mammals, cochlear nerve fibers are classified as either type I or type II. * Type I neurons make up 90-95% of the neurons and innervate the inner hair cells. They have relatively large diameters, are bipolar, and are myelinated. Each type I axon innervates only a single inner hair cell, but each inner hair cell is innervated by up to 30 such nerve fibers, depending on species and location within the cochlea. * Type II neurons make up the remaining 5-10% of the neurons and innervate the outer hair cells. They have relatively small diameters, are unipolar, and are unmyelinated.

Cochlear nuclear complex

In mammals, the axons from each cochlear nerve terminate in the cochlear nuclear complex that is ipsilaterally located in the medulla of the brainstem. The cochlear nucleus is the first 'relay station' of the central auditory system and receives mainly ipsilateral afferent input. The three major components of the cochlear nuclear complex are (see figure below): * the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) * the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) * the posteroventral cochlear nucleus (PVCN) Each of the three cochlear nuclei are tonotopically organized. The axons from the low-frequency region of the cochlea project to the ventral portion of the dorsal cochlear nucleus and the ventrolateral portions of the anteroventral cochlear nucleus. The axons from the high-frequency region project to the dorsal portion of the anteroventral cochlear nucleus and the uppermost dorsal portions of the dorsal cochlear nucleus. The axons from the intermediate frequency region project to intermediate targets, such that tonotopy is preserved between the cochlea and the cochlear nuclei.

References

Additional images

File:Ear-anatomy-text-small-en.svg, Ear anatomy File:Cochlear_nucleus_innervated_by_a_branching_auditory_nerve_fibre.JPG, Cochlear nucleus innervated by a branching auditory nerve fibre File:Gray761.png, Terminal nuclei of the vestibular nerve, with their upper connections. File:Gray903.png, Transverse section of the cochlear duct of a fetal cat. File:Gray929.png, Floor of ductus cochlearis. file:Gray928.png, Diagrammatic longitudinal section of the cochlea file:Organ of corti.svg, Organ of Corti

External links