Calyx (anatomy) kidney, a conglomeration of two or three minor calyces to form a major calyx, or the Calyx of Held, a particularly large synapse in the mammalian auditory central nervous system, named by H. Held in his 1893 article "Die centrale Gehörleitung", due to its flower-petal-like shape. In male insects, a funnel-shaped expansion of the basal part of the "vas deferens" (part of the seminal duct). Also in entomology, a flattened cap of neuropile in an insect brain (a component of the corpus pedunculatum) and by certain female insects, an expansion of the oviduct into which the ovarioles open. Calyx (anatomy)
Calyx of Held of Held has been used to understand a variety of mechanisms related to development of, and vesicle release of the synapse. The calyx of Held is a part of the auditory system, connecting the globular bushy cells (GBCs) of the anteroventral cochlear nucleus to the principal neurons of the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB). As a synapse, the function of the calyx of Held is to transmit the signal from the GBCs to the principal neurons. The principal neurons of the MNTB are glycinergic, thus hyperpolarizing the superior olivary complex (SOC) nuclei in nearby cells and producing tonotopic