|
In our inner ear, the cochlea is filled with microscopic hair cells, which are essential for hearing and balance. These hair cells are one of the only cells in our body that never regenerate. Therefore, when they are harmed because of acoustic trauma (noise), infection, drug toxicity, genetic disorders or aging, they cannot be repaired. The result is a permanent hearing loss. Sensory hair cell loss is a major contributor to disabling hearing and balance deficits that affect more than 250 million people worldwide.
In a breakthrough that will accelerate the pace of hearing loss, tinnitus and balance research, scientists from the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered a way to reproduce inner ear hair cells (the nerves that transmit sound to the brain) in the laboratory. Hair cell death is the catalyst, researchers believe, for the brain changes that generate tinnitus. If they can find a way to cause human hair cells to regenerate (which they do naturally in birds and other vertebrates), they may be able to restore hearing and silence tinnitus. Previously, scientists have had to do painstaking animal-ear dissections in order to obtain hair cells for study. By cutting out this time consuming and difficult process, this new technique allows them to greatly expand the scope and speed of their research.
|
About Us
