1 : MDS2023 Vikramdeep Johal

The Central Auditory Pathway

Ear → Brain Stem → Midbrain
• The neural representation of sound begins in the cochlear nuclei
o Ear → Brain Stem → Midbrain → Thalamus → Cerebral Cortex
• Acoustic information is conveyed from the cochlea by the central processes of bipolar cochlear spiral ganglion cells
o Their dendrites synapse with the base of hair cells & axons bundle together → auditory portion of CN VIII
▪ Which terminate in the cochlear nuclei within the brain stem
• From the cochlear nuclei information is relayed to several different types of tonotopically arranged neurons
• CN VIII fibres enter the brainstem and synapse on the cochlear nucleus of the same side
o Fibres then projects in several parallel pathways to the inferior colliculus in the midbrain
• The cochlear nucleus on each side is divided into:
• Ventral Cochlear Nucleus (VCN)
o Sends fibres bilaterally to the Superior Olivary Complex (SOC) → Inferior Colliculus
• Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus (DCN)
o Send fibres via the dorsal acoustic striae to the contralateral nucleus of the Lateral Lemniscus
▪ Fibres from contralateral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus → Inferior Colliculus (of same side)
• Superior Olivary Complex
o Receives fibres from ipsilateral & contralateral cochlear nuclei
o Senses direction of sound source and acts as a relay station of neural activity going to cerebral cortex
o Mediates reflex activity
• Lateral Lemniscus
o Fibres travel up this tract directly from the cochlear nuclei and from the cochlear nuclei via SOC
• Inferior Colliculus
o Receives afferent stimulation from both SOC & Cochlear Nuclei
o Sends fibres to the thalamus and is involved in auditory reflexes

Midbrain → Thalamus
• The auditory pathways end in the Medial Geniculate Nucleus (MGN)
o Located in the medial geniculate body in the posterior aspect of the thalamus
• Receives afferent stimulation from the inferior colliculus (midbrain)
o Neurons fan out from the MGN as the auditory radiation and ascend to the cortex

Auditory Cortex
• Located in the Superior Temporal Gyrus along the Lateral Fissure
• Connections between the primary auditory cortex & adjacent association areas → higher levels of integration
• Input from each ear is received bilaterally within the auditory system from the cochlear nuclei up

Descending Auditory Pathway

• The cerebral cortex needs to control the amount of sound received by the primary auditory cortex
• Descending fibres travel down from the auditory cortex →
o → Thalamus (medial geniculate nucleus) →
▪ → Brainstem’s auditory nuclei (SOC & cochlear nuclei) →
• CN V Motor Nucleus
o Modulate tensor tympani → reflex dampening of the ossicles
• CN VII Motor Nucleus
o Modulate Stapedius → reflex dampening of the ossicles
• CN VIII
o Inhibits cochlear hair cells
o Modulate transduction process between hair cells & 1o afferent neurons
▪ This permits descending control of incoming auditory information
2 : MDS2023 Vikramdeep Johal