Anatomy and Connections
- Auditory nerve fibers are either bipolar or unipolar.
- The distal projection is called the peripheral process.
- The proximal projection is called the axon.
- Action potentials pass through the soma.
- Both the peripheral process and the axon are myelinated.
Types of Neurons
- Cochlear nerve fibers are classified as type I or type II.
- Type I neurons innervate the inner hair cells.
- Type II neurons innervate the outer hair cells.
- Type I neurons are larger and myelinated.
- Type II neurons are smaller and unmyelinated.
Cochlear Nuclear Complex
- The cochlear nerve terminates in the cochlear nuclear complex.
- The cochlear nucleus is located in the medulla of the brainstem.
- The cochlear nucleus receives ipsilateral afferent input.
- The complex consists of the dorsal cochlear nucleus, anteroventral cochlear nucleus, and posteroventral cochlear nucleus.
- Each cochlear nucleus is tonotopically organized.
Related Concepts
- Cochlear implant
- Auditory Brainstem Response
References
- Palmer, A. R. (1987). Physiology of the cochlear nerve and cochlear nucleus.
- Spoendlin, H., & Schrott, A. (1989). Analysis of the human auditory nerve.
The cochlear nerve (also auditory nerve or acoustic nerve) is one of two parts of the vestibulocochlear nerve, a cranial nerve present in amniotes, the other part being the vestibular nerve. The cochlear nerve carries auditory sensory information from the cochlea of the inner ear directly to the brain. The other portion of the vestibulocochlear nerve is the vestibular nerve, which carries spatial orientation information to the brain from the semicircular canals, also known as semicircular ducts.
| Cochlear nerve | |
|---|---|
 Diagrammatic longitudinal section of the cochlea. (Cochlear nerve is in center, shown as striped.) | |
 Part of the cochlear division of the acoustic nerve, highly magnified. | |
| Details | |
| From | Vestibulocochlear nerve |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | nervus cochlearis |
| MeSH | D003056 |
| TA98 | A14.2.01.133 |
| TA2 | 6318 |
| FMA | 53431 |
| Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy | |
cochlear nerve (plural cochlear nerves)
