Carole M. Hackney

The Inner Ear and Auditory Brainstem

A healthy human cochlea contains around 35,000 sensory receptors called hair cells. Using these cells, young humans can detect sound pressures as low as 2 X 10-5 Pa and frequencies up to nearly 20 kHz. In order to transmit the precise timing information provided by these receptors, the cochlear nerve uses some of the largest nerve endings in the central nervous system, end-bulbs of Held, to contact nerve cells in the auditory brainstem. Thus these specialised sensory receptors and nerve terminals are used in a sensory system that is both remarkably fast and incredibly sensitive. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that it is also very vulnerable - over 7 million people in the UK alone have some degree of hearing loss and another 4 million have tinnitus. Thus understanding hair cell structure and function and the processes underlying neurotransmission in the initial stages of the auditory pathway is likely to be relevant to the prevention and treatment of certain types of deafness and other hearing disorders.

My research employs a range of light and electron microscopical techniques coupled with immunocytochemical, physiological and behavioural experiments to study the normal and impaired inner ear and the auditory brainstem. It has had two main but interlinked themes, the structure and function of cochlear hair cells and neurotransmission in the auditory brainstem.

Selected Publications

Hackney, C.M., S. Mahendrasingam, E.M.C. Jones, and R. Fettiplace. 2003. The distribution of calcium buffering proteins in the turtle cochlea. J. Neurosci. 23: 4577 - 4589. [PDF]
Hackney, C.M. 2002. Hearing and balance: From cochlea to cortex. In Roberts (ed), Signals and Perception: The Fundamentals of Human Sensation. Palgrave MacMillan: Hampshire and New York. pp. 29 - 40.
Fettiplace, R., A.J. Ricci, and C. M. Hackney. 2001 Clues from the turtle ear about cochlear amplification. Trends Neurosci 24: 169-175. [PDF]


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Carole M. Hackney The Inner Ear and Auditory Brainstem E-mail: cmhackney@wisc.edu A healthy human cochlea contains around 35,000 sensory receptors called hair cells. Using these cells, young humans can detect sound pressures as low as 2 X 10-5 Pa and frequencies up to nearly 20 kHz. In order to transmit the precise timing information provided by these receptors, the cochlear nerve uses some of the largest nerve endings in the central nervous system, end-bulbs of Held, to contact nerve cells in the auditory brainstem. Thus these specialised sensory receptors and nerve terminals are used in a sensory system that is both remarkably fast and incredibly sensitive. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that it is also very vulnerable - over 7 million people in the UK alone have some degree of hearing loss and another 4 million have tinnitus. Thus understanding hair cell structure and function and the processes underlying neurotransmission in the initial stages of the auditory pathway is likely to be relevant to the prevention and treatment of certain types of deafness and other hearing disorders. My research employs a range of light and electron microscopical techniques coupled with immunocytochemical, physiological and behavioural experiments to study the normal and impaired inner ear and the auditory brainstem. It has had two main but interlinked themes, the structure and function of cochlear hair cells and neurotransmission in the auditory brainstem. Selected Publications Hackney, C.M., S. Mahendrasingam, E.M.C. Jones, and R. Fettiplace. 2003. The distribution of calcium buffering proteins in the turtle cochlea. J. Neurosci. 23: 4577 - 4589. [PDF] Hackney, C.M. 2002. Hearing and balance: From cochlea to cortex. In Roberts (ed), Signals and Perception: The Fundamentals of Human Sensation. Palgrave MacMillan: Hampshire and New York. pp. 29 - 40. Fettiplace, R., A.J. Ricci, and C. M. Hackney. 2001 Clues from the turtle ear about cochlear amplification. Trends Neurosci 24: 169-175. [PDF]

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