Exposure to intense sound can damage the mechanosensors of the inner ear and their afferent innervation. These neurosensory elements are innervated by a sound-activated feedback pathway, the olivocochlear efferent system. One major component of this system is cholinergic, and known cholinergic effects are mediated by the alpha9/alpha10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) complex. Here, we ...

In the mammalian auditory system, the synapse between efferent olivocochlear (OC) neurons and sensory cochlear hair cells is cholinergic, fast, and inhibitory. This efferent synapse is mediated by the nicotinic alpha9alpha10 receptor coupled to the activation of SK2 Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channels that hyperpolarize the cell. So far, the ion channels that support and/or modulate neurotransmitter...

Stimulation of the olivocochlear bundle reduces basilar membrane displacement, driven auditory nerve activity, and compound action potential (CAP) response to acoustic stimulation. These effects were simulated using a computer model of the auditory periphery. The model simulates the medial efferent activity by attenuating the basilar membrane response. The model was evaluated against three anim...

We report a case and surgical technique of successful sling suspension of insufficient efferent limb of continent urinary reservoir, which has occurred urinary incontinence. A 64-year-old male, who received radical cystectomy with continent urinary reservoir, had been suffered urinary incontinence from the reservoir about one year after surgery. Various procedures, such as the repair of the eff...

Precise measurement of the position of the eye as it follows a moving target makes possible the exact computation of retinal information about the path of movement of that target. Comparing this retinal information with the reported visual perception of the path of movement enables inferences to be made concerning what information about eye position was used by the perceptual system. On the ass...

Obesity is a rapidly increasing public health concern worldwide as a major risk factor for numerous disorders, including diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Despite remarkable advances in obesity research over the past 10 years, the molecular mechanisms underlying obesity are still not completely understood. To maintain systemic energy homeostasis, it is important that organs/tissues comm...

The midbrain dopamine (mDA) system is involved in the control of cognitive and motor behaviors, and is associated with several psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. mDA neurons receive diverse afferent inputs and establish efferent connections with many brain areas. Recent studies have unveiled a high level of molecular and cellular heterogeneity within the mDA system with specific subset...