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Differential Activation of Canal and Otolith Afferents by Acoustic Tone Bursts in Rats

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A Correction to this article was published on 22 April 2022

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Abstract

Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) are routinely used to test otolith function, but which specific vestibular afferent neurons and central circuits are activated by auditory frequency VEMP stimuli remains unclear. To examine this question, we analyzed the sensitivity of individual vestibular afferents in adult Sprague–Dawley rats to tone bursts delivered at 9 frequencies (125–4000 Hz) and 3 intensity levels (60, 70, 80 dB SL re: acoustic brainstem response (ABR) threshold). Afferent neuron tone sensitivity was quantified by the cumulative probability of evoking a spike (CPE). Based on a threshold CPE of 0.1, acoustic stimuli in the present study evoked responses in 78.2 % (390/499) of otolith afferent neurons vs. 48.4 % (431/891) of canal afferent neurons. Organ-specific vestibular inputs to the central nervous system in response to tone bursts differ based on intensity and frequency content of the stimulus. At frequencies below 500 Hz, tone bursts primarily activated both otolith afferents, even at the highest intensity tested (80 dB SL re ABR threshold). At 1500 Hz, however, tone bursts activated the canal and otolith afferents at the moderate and high intensities tested (70, 80 dB SL), but activated only otolith afferents at the low intensity tested (60 dB SL). Within an end organ, diversity of sensitivity between individual afferent neurons correlated with spontaneous discharge rate and regularity. Examination of inner ear fluid mechanics in silico suggests that the frequency response and preferential activation of the otolith organs likely arise from inner ear fluid motion trapped near the oval and round windows. These results provide insight into understanding the mechanisms of sound activation of the vestibular system and developing novel discriminative VEMP testing protocols and interpretative guidelines in humans.

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adopted from Marlinski et al. (2004)

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Funding

This study was supported by NIH R01DC012060 (HZ), NIH R01DC008585 (WZ).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS, 39216, USA

    Jun Huang, Xuehui Tang, Youguo Xu, Chunming Zhang, Tianwen Chen, Yue Yu, William Mustain, Jerome Allison, Wu Zhou & Hong Zhu

  2. Department of Neurology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA

    Wu Zhou

  3. Department of Otolaryngology, First Affiliated Hospital, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China

    Chunming Zhang

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Marta M. Iversen & Richard D. Rabbitt

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  1. Jun Huang
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  2. Xuehui Tang
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  3. Youguo Xu
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  4. Chunming Zhang
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  5. Tianwen Chen
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  11. Wu Zhou
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  12. Hong Zhu
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Huang, J., Tang, X., Xu, Y. et al. Differential Activation of Canal and Otolith Afferents by Acoustic Tone Bursts in Rats. JARO 23, 435–453 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-022-00839-1

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