The cochlear nerve carries auditory sensory information from the cochlea of the inner ear directly to the brain.

Unlike the typical dendrite, the peripheral process generates and conducts action potentials, which then "jump" across the cell body (or soma) and continue to propagate along the central axon.

The peripheral axons of auditory nerve fibers form synaptic connections with the hair cells of the cochlea via ribbon synapses using the neurotransmitter glutamate.

These central axons exit the cochlea at its base and form a nerve trunk, which, in humans, is approximately one inch long.

As such, sound frequencies detected by the cochlea are transmitted electrically to specific positions in the cochlear nuclei.