ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF EAR OF KANGAROO RAT (DIPODOMYS)

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The ear of the kangaroo rat showed electrical responses to sounds from 100 to 20,000 c.p.s. Its most sensitive range was found to be from 2000 to 4000 c.p.s. The most conspicuous difference between these responses and those of other mammals was that the microphonic from the scala vestibuli was much smaller than that from the scala tympani. With weak and moderate sound stimuli, only nerve action potentials were recorded from the scala vestibuli. During acoustic stimulation electrical responses originating in the cochlea and its nerve were recorded very easily from the semicircular canals and their ampullae. These responses were the same as those at the scala vestibuli at the basal turn. There was no sign of an electrical response to acoustic stimuli from the end-organ in the ampulla, either before or after fenestration of the canal.