CONTACTS BETWEEN HAIR-CELLS IN THE AVIAN COCHLEA

In the avian papilla basilaris, contacts between hair cells are a common feature. With few exceptions, they only occur between tall hair cells (THC), and they are more frequent in the apical half of the papilla. In this quantitative study, four types of contacts are defined: Protrusion contacts, touch contacts, fusion contacts and multiple contacts. There are strong indications that these contacts are dynamic structures. The fact that avian hair cells probably communicate with each other means that their function can only be fully understood if cell groups are studied.