Vision, olfaction, hearing, and balance are mediated by receptors that reside in specialized sensory epithelial organs. Age-related degeneration of the photoreceptors in the retina and the hair cells in the cochlea, caused by macular degeneration and sensorineural hearing loss, respectively, affect a growing number of individuals. Although sensory receptor cells in the mammalian retina and inne...

Hearing loss is common among older adults. Research has found a prevalence of 33% or higher of bilateral hearing loss in people 50 and older (Mitchell et al., 2011). Hearing loss has been associated with decline in both mental and physical health. Problems linked to hearing loss include lower cognitive functioning, functional status, and quality of lifefortunately, many older adults who purchas...

For the elderly, sensory impairments increase vulnerability and limit the quality of life. Dimming eyesight and failing hearing can reduce physical, functional, emotional, and social well-being. Visual and hearing impairments decrease independence in performing the activities of daily living, getting from place to place, or communicating with others. Isolation, depression, and poorer social rel...

Common causes of hearing loss in humans - exposure to loud noise or ototoxic drugs and aging - often damage sensory hair cells, reflected as elevated thresholds on the clinical audiogram. Recent studies in animal models suggest, however, that well before this overt hearing loss can be seen, a more insidious, but likely more common, process is taking place that permanently interrupts synaptic co...

Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) is a common human disorder, affecting one in three Americans aged 60 and over. Previous studies have shown that presbyacusis is associated with a loss of non-sensory cells in the cochlear lateral wall. Sox10 is a transcription factor crucial to the development and maintenance of neural crest-derived cells including some non-sensory cell types in the cochle...

For the elderly, sensory impairments increase vulnerability and limit the quality of life. Dimming eyesight and failing hearing can reduce physical, functional, emotional, and social well-being. Visual and hearing impairments decrease independence in performing the activities of daily living, getting from place to place, or communicating with others. Isolation, depression, and poorer social rel...