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Concept
Cochlear nerve
Summary
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.
In terms of anatomy, an auditory nerve fiber is either bipolar or unipolar, with its distal projection being called the peripheral process, and its proximal projection being called the axon; these two projections are also known as the "peripheral axon" and the "central axon", respectively. The peripheral process is sometimes referred to as a dendrite, although that term is somewhat inaccurate. Unlike the typical dendrite, the peripheral process generates and conducts action potentials, which then "jump" across the cell body (or soma) and continue to propagate along the central axon. In this respect, auditory nerve fibers are somewhat unusual in that action potentials pass through the soma. Both the peripheral process and the axon are myelinated.
In humans, there are on average 30,000 nerve fibers within the cochlear nerve. The number of fibers varies significantly across species; the domestic cat, for example, has an average of 50,000 fibers. The peripheral axons of auditory nerve fibers form synaptic connections with the hair cells of the cochlea via ribbon synapses using the neurotransmitter glutamate. The central axons form synaptic connections with cells in the cochlear nucleus of the brainstem.
The cell bodies of the cochlear nerve lie within the cochlea and collectively form the spiral ganglion, named for the spiral shape it shares with the cochlea. These central axons exit the cochlea at its base and form a nerve trunk, which, in humans, is approximately one inch long.
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