Independent Acoustic Stimulation of the Amphibian and Basilar Papillae of Rana pipiens

Abstract

This study attempted to selectively stimulate and record from either the amphibian or basilar papillae of Rana pipiens. Computer-generated, frequency-specific clicks were used to elicit BSER's from either amphibian or basilar papillae. Narrowband noise fatiguers were presented in the frequency region of which each papillae are tuned. It was expected that a threshold shift would be elicited in the papillae that received the acoustic trauma, and that no threshold shift would be observed from the collateral papilla. The results of this experiment indicated that there was no overall difference between the threshold shift of either papilla. Furthermore, the amount of AP threshold shift was relatively constant regardless of whether the fatiguer bandwidth was overloading the amphibian or basilar papillae. By contrast, the amount of BP threshold shift was greater when proceeded by a fatiguer with a bandwidth corresponding to the BP tuning region than by a fatiguer with a bandwidth corresponding to the AP tuning region. Additionally, curare maximized the amount of BP threshold shift following fatiguing noise presented with a bandwidth to which the AP is tuned.