Researchers Discover Inner Ear Development in Embryos is Similar to Crystal Formation
An interdisciplinary study headed by Professor David Sprinzak, a researcher from the School of Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Biophysics at the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University, showed for the first time that physical forces are involved in the development of the inner ear in mammalian embryos. “We identified a new developmental…
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Researchers Find Molecular ‘Switch’ Controls Ability to Repair Hearing Loss in Mice
In a study in mice, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have found a molecular ”switch” that turns off the animal’s ability to repair damaged cells in the inner ear. The findings shed light on regenerative abilities that are present in many species of birds and fish, but get turned off in mammals, including humans. The study…
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New Research Helps Shed light on How Hearing Happens at the Molecular Level
We hear sounds in part because tiny filaments inside our inner ears help convert voices, music and noises into electrical signals that are sent to our brains for processing. Now, scientists have mapped and simulated those filaments at the atomic level, a discovery that shed lights on how the inner ear works and that could…
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Research Reveals Previously Unknown Population of Brain Cells That Respond to Amplitude Modulation Frequency, Essential to Hearing
Perceiving speech requires quieting certain types of brain cells, report a team of researchers from UConn Health and University of Rochester in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology. Their research reveals a previously unknown population of brain cells, and opens up a new way of understanding how the brain hears. Your brain is never…
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USC Stem Cell Researchers Find Simpler Way to Make Inner Ear Hair Cells
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — Scientists from the USC Stem Cell laboratories of Neil Segil and Justin Ichida have found a simpler way to generate the sensory cells of the inner ear. Their approach uses direct reprogramming to produce sensory cells known as “hair cells,” due to their hair-like protrusions that sense sound waves. The study was published this…
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New Study Charts Developmental Map of Inner Ear Sound Sensor in Mice
BETHESDA, MARYLAND — A team of researchers has generated a developmental map of a key sound-sensing structure in the mouse inner ear. Scientists at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their collaborators analyzed data from 30,000 cells from mouse cochlea, the snail-shaped structure…
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New Stem Cell Study Offers Insights on How to Potentially Restore Hearing
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — Researchers at USC have found that the Yap/Tead protein complex plays a major role in the developmental of the inner ear. This important protein sends signals to the hearing organ to attain the correct size during embryonic development, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy…
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Researchers Use Advanced 3D Imaging to Map Blood Vessels of the Inner Ear
Swedish and Canadian researchers have used an advanced 3D imaging technique, synchrotron X-rays, to three-dimensionally map the blood vessels of the inner ear. To be able to study the blood vessels in the inner auditory organ, the researchers used the synchrotron system in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The system, which is one of eight in the…
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Oblato Biotech Company Acquires Hearing Loss Drug Discovered by Hough Ear Institute Scientists
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA — Hough Ear Institute (HEI), a nonprofit based in Oklahoma City, has annoucned that its pharmaceutical partner, Auditus LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Otologic Pharmaceutics Inc. (OPI), has entered into an agreement with Oblato Inc. Oblato assumes exclusive rights to a drug known as NHPN-1010 to advance clinical research aimed at preserving and…
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Researchers Prevent Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Mice Using Drug Compound
Loud noise can damage the inner ear and cause hearing loss. Studying mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Iowa have shown that a drug compound can block damage caused by loud noise, raising the possibility of medication that prevents noise-induced hearing loss. The study is published…
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