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Spiral ganglion neurones: an overview of morphology, firing behaviour, ionic channels and function

  • Sensory Physiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

The spiral ganglion cells provide the afferent innervation of the hair cells of the organ of Corti. Ninety-five percent of these cells (termed type I spiral ganglion neurones) are in synaptic contact with the inner hair cells, whereas about 5% of them are type II cells, which are responsible for the sensory innervation of the outer hair cells. To understand the function of the spiral ganglion neurones, it is important to explore their membrane properties, understand their activity patterns and describe the variety of ionic channels determining their behaviour. In this review, a brief description is given of the various experimental methods that allow the investigation of the spiral ganglion cells, followed by the discussion of their action potential firing patterns and ionic conductances. The presence, distribution and significance of the K+ currents of the spiral ganglion cells are specifically addressed, along with the introduction of the putative subunit compositions of the relevant voltage-gated K+ channels.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to Drs. G. Bakondi and B. Pál for reviewing and commenting on the manuscript. The authors are most grateful to Dr. B. Pál for preparing the hand-drawn illustrations, and to two unnamed reviewers whose professional and helpful suggestions and comments were very useful. This work was supported by grants from the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA K-72812, NK-61412).

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  1. Department of Physiology, Medical and Health Science Centre, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, P. O. Box 22, H-4012, Hungary

    Zoltán Rusznák & Géza Szűcs

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  1. Zoltán Rusznák
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  2. Géza Szűcs
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Correspondence to Zoltán Rusznák.

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Rusznák, Z., Szűcs, G. Spiral ganglion neurones: an overview of morphology, firing behaviour, ionic channels and function. Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol 457, 1303–1325 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-008-0586-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-008-0586-2

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