Cochlear Development: Some Electron Microscopic Observations of Maturation of Hair Cells, Spiral Ganglion and Reissner's Membrane

Abstract

The hair cells differentiate before their nerve endings make synaptic contact in the organ of Corti. Each hair cell develops stereocilia and a cuticle prior to innervation. The ectodermal endolymphatic layer of Reissner's membrane has some features in common with fluid transport epithelia. Each spiral ganglion Schwann cell initially envelops many nerve fibers, but eventually myelinates only a single fiber.