In the auditory pathway, the cochlea, an encased fluid-filled spiral in the inner ear, is responsible for converting the mechanical vibrations created by sound into bioelectric signals sent to the brain for processing. Through the auditory nerve, sound information from the cochlea projects to the cochlear nucleus. Within the ventral cochlear nucleus, octopus cells (OCs) are distinguished by their unique anatomical and electrophysiological properties, which enable them to act as precise and fast temporal coders known for accuracy and speed (Oertel 2000). A hallmark of OCs is their extremely brief action potentials (APs), making the initial spike a crucial moment in the signalling process. As a result, studying the specific region of the axon where an action potential is initiated is essential to understanding how OCs achieve temporal precision. The axon initial segment (AIS), located just beyond the intersection of the soma and axon, functions as the site of spike initiation due to the high concentration of voltage-gated sodium (Na+) channels, which lower the threshold of depolarization required for an action potential (Bender and Trussell). Structural characteristics of the AIS, like its diameter, and distance from the soma (the pre-AIS), can directly influence a neuron's excitability and signal propagation needed based on OC function before or after hearing onset age at 12 days (Kuba 2012) . Examining the development of an OC’s AIS prior to and post hearing onset can provide insight on how OCs become specialized temporal coders and fine-tune their biophysical structure to optimize computational function.