Sensory cells and neurons in the ear communicate by secreting neurotransmitter in response to sound stimuli. Scientists of the University Medical Center Göttingen, the Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, and the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences describe new details of this process that regulates the release of neurotransmitters and thus control the transmission of sound stimuli. The results of this work were published in the renowned journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Image: Under the microscope, very fine glass pipettes were brought to the inner hair cells (IHZ) and the tiny postsynaptic boutons, which were used to take measurements from both sides of the first synapse in the inner ear in order to decipher the communication between the cells. Source: LM Jaime Tobón, ian/mbexc.
