Hearing loss alters quantal release at cochlear nucleus stellate cells

Auditory nerve synapses in ventral cochlear nucleus end on two principal cell types, bushy and stellate cells. While the effects of hearing loss on bushy cells has been well studied, little is known about the effects of hearing loss on synaptic input to the stellate cells. Based on prior observations in bushy cells, we hypothesized that noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) would decrease quantal release onto stellate cells