Donata Oertel

 

 

The Role of the Mammalian Cochlear Nuclei in Hearing

E-mail: oertel@physiology.wisc.edu

Research Strengths: Membrane Excitability and Synaptic Transmission, Neural Circuits, Perception and Movement

In the cochlear nuclei, acoustic information passes from auditory nerve fibers to groups of neurons that form parallel ascending pathways. Each pathway takes a separate route through the brain stem to the midbrain and performs a separate integrative task. Neurons in some pathways are specialized for encoding timing information. Others are specialized to detect small modulatory currents that can shift their dynamic range. The synapses, too, are specialized. Consistent with the need to hear sounds independent of previous acoustic history, synapses in the ventral cochlear nucleus are robust, unchanging over a wide range of conditions. Plasticity is strong, however, in the cerebellar-like dorsal cochlear nucleus. We are examining mutant mice that have lost part or all of their hearing to understand how the loss of hearing affects the function of the pathways through the cochlear nuclei.

Selected Publications:

• Oertel, D. and E.D. Young. 2004. What's a cerebellar circuit doing in the auditory system? Trends 27: 104-110.
• Fujino, K. and D. Oertel. 2003. Bidirectional synaptic plasticity in the cerebellum-like mammalian dorsal cochlear nucleus. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 100: 265-270. [PDF]
• Ferragamo, M.J. and D. Oertel. 2002. Octopus cells of the mammalian ventral cochlear nucleus sense the rate of depolarization. J. Neurophysiol. 87: 2262-2270. [PDF]
• Fujino, K. and D. Oertel. 2001. Cholinergic modulation of stellate cells in the mammalian ventral cochlear nucleus. J. Neurosci. 21: 7372-7383. [PDF]
• Gardner, S.M., L.O. Trussell, and D. Oertel. 2001. Correlation of AMPA receptor subunit composition with synaptic input in the mammalian cochlear nuclei. J. Neurosci. 21: 7428-7437. [PDF]
• Bal, R. and D. Oertel. 2001. Potassium currents in octopus cells of the mammalian cochlear nucleus. J. Neurophysiol. 86: 2299-2311. [PDF]
• Bal, R. and D. Oertel. 2000. Hyperpolarization-activated, mixed-cation current (Ih) in octopus cells of the mammalian cochlear nucleus. J. Neurophysiol. 84: 806-817. [PDF]
• Oertel, D., R. Bal, S.M. Gardner, P.H. Smith, and P.X. Joris. 2000. Detection of synchrony in the activity of auditory nerve fibers by octopus cells of the mammalian cochlear nucleus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 97: 11773-11779. [PDF]
• Gardner, S.M., L.O. Trussell, and D. Oertel. 1999. Time course of miniature EPSCs in cochlear nuclear neurons that share common inputs. J. Neurosci. 19: 2897-2905. [PDF]
• Golding, N.L. and D. Oertel. 1997. Physiological identification of the targets of cartwheel cells of the dorsal cochlear nucleus. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 248-260. [PDF]