High-resolution MR imaging of the inner ear with a heavily T2-weighted 3D fast spin-echo sequence has been performed successfully at 1.5 T. However, at 3 T, the longer T1 time of CSF necessitates a longer TR, resulting in significantly prolonged imaging times. In this study, the fast recovery 3D fast spin-echo sequence, which permits the TR to be reduced while maintaining T2 contrast, was optim...

INTRODUCTION A mutation affecting behaviour occurred in a heterogeneous stock of mice at The Jackson Laboratory in 1956. Genetical tests showed that the mutant gene was semi-dominant with incomplete penetrance, and lethal in the homozygous condition. Further studies established that its effects on the inner ear were different from those of other genes affecting behaviour in a similar manner. It...

The post-transductional elaboration of sensory input at the frog semicircular canal has been studied by correlating the effects of drugs that interfere with phosphorylation processes on: (i) potassium conductances in isolated hair cell and (ii) transmitter release at the cytoneural junction in the intact labyrinth. At hair cells, delayed potassium currents (IKD) undergo voltage- and time-depend...

Mutations of SLC26A4 are among the most prevalent causes of hereditary deafness. Deafness in the corresponding mouse model, Slc26a4(-/-), results from an abnormally enlarged cochlear lumen. The goal of this study was to determine whether the cochlear enlargement originates with defective cochlear fluid transport or with a malfunction of fluid transport in the connected compartments, which are t...

The anabantoids are a group of c. 137 species of air-breathing freshwater fishes found in Africa and southern Asia. All anabantoids have a pair of suprabranchial chambers that each house an air-breathing organ known as the labyrinth apparatus: a complex bony structure lined with thin, highly vascularised respiratory epithelium. The labyrinth apparatus allows anabantoids to extract oxygen from a...

All fish species in the Anabantoidei suborder are aquatic air-breathing fish. These species have an accessory air-breathing organ, called the labyrinth organ, in the branchial cavity and can engulf air at the surface of the water to assist in gas exchange. It is therefore necessary to examine the extent of gill modification among anabantoid fish species and the potential trade-offs in their fun...

In the present study, we evaluated the influence of intraperitoneal administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) or 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP(+)) on the placenta. There was no increase in apoptotic cells in the placentas of C57BL/6 mice treated with 25.0 mg/kg MPTP or 17.1 mg/kg MPP(+), indicating that a single injection of the chemicals may induce very slight cy...

INTRODUCTION Based on the knowledge that traumatic brainstem damage often leads to alteration in brainstem functions, including the vestibulo-ocular reflex, the present study is designed to determine whether prediction of outcome in the early phase after severe traumatic brain injury is possible by means of vestibulo-ocular monitoring. METHODS Vestibulo-ocular monitoring is based on video-ocu...