Calyx of Held nervous system has allowed for direct research within a mammalian model and the large size increases the ease of electrophysiological recording. For these reasons it has been popular in understanding transmitter release. Specifically, the calyx of Held is used because of: Calyx of Held The Calyx of Held is a particularly large synapse in the mammalian auditory central nervous system, so named by Hans Held in his 1893 article "Die centrale Gehörleitung" because of its resemblance to the calyx of a flower. Globular bushy cells in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) send axons to the contralateral medial nucleus of the
Calyx of Held nucleus of the trapezoid body) and VCN (ventral cochlear nerve), eventually connecting with one another by projecting across the midline of the two areas. These associations begin to appear immediately after VCN neurons have been generated; one can observe the earliest formation of these contacts around embryonic day 17 (E17). These neuronal connections, which make up an important area of the cochlea, form branches with one another that terminate in the calyx of Held. Over the course of the next two to three weeks, the neuronal contacts that first formed the embryonic calyx evolve in shape and function, culminating in