BACKGROUND Glucocorticoids (GCs) are widely used to treat sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) and significantly improve hearing. However, GC insensitivity has been observed in some patients of SSNHL. OBJECTIVE To study the correlation between GR expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and in the cochlea of guinea pigs at mRNA and protein levels. METHODS One group of g...

Intracochlear imaging is of great interest clinically because cochlea is the central organ of hearing. However, intracochlear imaging is technologically challenging due to the cochlea’s small size and encasement in bone. The stateof-the-art imaging techniques are not adequate for high resolution cellular imaging to establish diagnosis without destroying the cochlea. We report in situ imaging of...

A study of genes expressed in the developing inner ear identified the bHLH transcription factor Scleraxis (Scx) in the developing cochlea. Previous work has demonstrated an essential role for Scx in the differentiation and development of tendons, ligaments and cells of chondrogenic lineage. Expression in the cochlea has been shown previously, however the functional role for Scx in the cochlea i...

HYPOTHESIS Elastin-like protein (ELP) hydrogel helps maintain the three-dimensional (3-D) cochlear structure in culture. BACKGROUND Whole-organ culture of the cochlea is a useful model system facilitating manipulation and analysis of live sensory cells and surrounding nonsensory cells. The precisely organized 3-D cochlear structure demands a culture method that preserves this delicate archite...

Loss-of function mutations in the transmembrane inner ear expressed (Tmie/TMIE) gene have been shown to cause deafness in mice and humans (DFNB6). Previous studies report that the circling mouse can be an animal model for DFNB6. However, the expression pattern of Tmie protein in postnatal developmental stages has not been clearly revealed. In this study we tried to investigate the expression of...

Except at the handful of sites explored by the inverse method, the characteristics-indeed, the very existence-of traveling-wave amplification in the mammalian cochlea remain largely unknown. Uncertainties are especially pronounced in the apex, where mechanical and electrical measurements lack the independent controls necessary for assessing damage to the preparation. At a functional level, the ...

UNLABELLED In patients with moderate to severe high-frequency hearing loss, cochlear damage may include "dead regions" where there are no functional inner hair cells and/or associated neurons. AIM This study examines speech recognition in sensorineural impaired hearing patients with and without cochlear dead regions at high frequencies. METHODS a clinical and experimental study was made of ...

OBJECTIVE To locate the organic cation transporter 2 (OCT2) in the cochlea of three different species and to modulate the ototoxicity of cisplatin in the guinea pig by pretreatment with phenformin, having a known affinity for OCT2. STUDY DESIGN Immunohistochemical and in vivo study. METHODS Sections from the auditory end organs were subjected to immunohistochemical staining in order to iden...

Georg von Békésy observed that the onset times of responses to brief-duration stimuli vary as a function of distance from the stapes, with basal regions starting to move earlier than apical ones. He noticed that the speed of signal propagation along the cochlea is slow when compared with the speed of sound in water. Fast traveling waves have been recorded in the cochlea, but their existence is ...

Edwin Lewis Dept Elect. Eng. U.C. Berkeley We present a simplified model of the micromechanics of the human cochlea, realized with electrical elements. Simulation of the model shows that it retains four signal processing features whose importance we argue on the basis of engineering logic and evolutionary evidence. Furthermore, just as the cochlea does, the model achieves massively parallel sig...