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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 96/5/2653    most recent 00565.2006v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Rowe, M. H. Articles by Peterson, E. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rowe, M. H. Articles by Peterson, E. H.

Autocorrelation Analysis of Hair Bundle Structure in the Utricle

Neuroscience Program and Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

Submitted 27 May 2006; accepted in final form 2 August 2006

The ability of hair bundles to signal head movements and sounds depends significantly on their structure, but a quantitative picture of bundle structure has proved elusive. The problem is acute for vestibular organs because their hair bundles exhibit complex morphologies that vary with endorgan, hair cell type, and epithelial locus. Here we use autocorrelation analysis to quantify stereociliary arrays (the number, spacing, and distribution of stereocilia) on hair cells of the turtle utricle. Our first goal was to characterize zonal variation across the macula, from medial extrastriola, through striola, to lateral extrastriola. This is important because it may help explain zonal variation in response dynamics of utricular hair cells and afferents. We also use known differences in type I and II bundles to estimate array characteristics of these two hair cell types. Our second goal was to quantify variation in array orientation at single macular loci and use this to estimate directional tuning in utricular afferents. Our major findings are that, of the features measured, array width is the most distinctive feature of striolar bundles, and within the striola there are significant, negatively correlated gradients in stereocilia number and spacing that parallel gradients in bundle heights. Together with previous results on stereocilia number and bundle heights, our results support the hypothesis that striolar hair cells are specialized to signal high-frequency/acceleration head movements. Finally, there is substantial variation in bundle orientation at single macular loci that may help explain why utricular afferents respond to stimuli orthogonal to their preferred directions.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Li, J. Xue, and E. H. Peterson Architecture of the Mouse Utricle: Macular Organization and Hair Bundle Heights J Neurophysiol, February 1, 2008; 99(2): 718 - 733. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]