The cochlea is a sensory organ that converts physical (sound) stimulation into electrical signals. This process is fundamentally and substantially based upon the ion transport system. Here, I summarize the physiological and molecular biological aspects of transporters, channels and receptors expressed in the cochlea. With reference to these findings, recent advances in genetic research on hered...

It is now established that the mammalian cochlea uses active amplification of incoming sound to achieve sensitivity. Cellular details are emerging slowly. Recent studies of sensory hair cells have highlighted the possible molecular bases for amplification and the components of sensitivity regulation within the cochlea: a synthesis is likely to depend on effective and physiologically informed mo...

Sound is encoded within the auditory portion of the inner ear, the cochlea, after propagating down its length as a traveling wave. For over half a century, vibratory measurements to study cochlear traveling waves have been made using invasive approaches such as laser Doppler vibrometry. Although these studies have provided critical information regarding the nonlinear processes within the living...

To study the underlying morphological changes of presbycusis, cochlea and cochlear nuclei from twenty three dogs, ranging in age from 3 days to 17 years, were examined histologically. Dogs used in this study were house dogs kept in an environment similar to that of humans. Four types of histological changes reported in human presbycusis, that is, loss of spiral ganglion cells, atrophy of the or...

The purpose of this study was to establish guidelines that help radiation oncologists contour the inner and middle ear on treatment planning scans. The radiotherapy computed tomography (CT) scans of 15 previously treated patients were reviewed for the ability to identify 3 separate auditory structures. The middle ear, the cochlea, and the vestibular apparatus were identified and contoured on ea...

Experimental data on the mechanical properties of the tissues of the mammalian cochlea are essential for understanding the frequency- and location-dependent motion patterns that result in response to incoming sound waves. Within the cochlea, sound-induced vibrations are transduced into neural activity by the organ of Corti, the gross motion of which is dependent on the motion of the underlying ...

HYPOTHESIS The velocity response at the contralateral cochlea from bone-conducted (BC) stimulation depends on the stimulation position. BACKGROUND BC sound transmission in the human skull is complex and differs from air-conducted sound. BC sound stimulates both cochleae with different amplitudes and time delays influencing hearing perception in a way that is not completely understood. One imp...

Cells of the immune system have been shown to infiltrate the cochlea after acoustic trauma or ototoxic drug treatment; however, the contribution of the immune system to hair cell loss in the inner ear is incompletely understood. Most studies have concentrated on the immediate innate response to hair cell damage using CD45 as a broad marker for all immune cells. More recent studies have used RNA...

During a critical period prior to hearing onset, cochlea ablation leads to massive neuronal death in the mouse anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN), where cell survival is believed to depend on glutamatergic input. We investigated the development of spontaneous miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) in AVCN neurons using whole cell patch-clamp techniques during [postnatal day 7 (P...

Vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (VGLUT3) plays an important role in hearing, and VGLUT3 knockout mice are deaf. However, the mechanisms whereby VGLUT3 exerts its effects in the cochlea are not well established. Elucidating the developmental and aging dynamics of VGLUT3 localization and expression in the cochlea would aid a functional understanding of auditory glutamatergic transmission. In th...