Synonyms
Cochlear nerve; Auditory division of the statoacoustic nerve; Cochlear division of the vestibulocochlear nerve; Eighth cranial nerve
Definition
The auditory nerve is the peripheral pathway comprised of the central processes of the sensory spiral ganglion neurons of the cochlea that project to the ipsilateral cochlear nucleus, as well as the axons of the neurons of the olivocochlear efferent system that originates in the superior olive.
Characteristics
Quantitative Description
The number of spiral ganglion neurons in mammals ranges from about 10,000–50,000, 80–95% of which are classified as Type I, while the remainder are (Fig. 1) Type II. Type I neurons receive input from inner hair cells, while outer hair cells provide the input to Type II cells [1]. There are between about 475 and 2,500 olivocochlear efferent neurons in a range of mammals, approximately one-quarter to one-third of which belong to the medial olivocochlear system that contacts outer hair cells, while the...
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References
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Siegel, J. (2008). Auditory Nerve. In: Binder, M.D., Hirokawa, N., Windhorst, U. (eds) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_436
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_436
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