Emerging Research Grants scientist Dunia Abdul-Aziz, M.D., of Harvard Medical School and Mass Eye and Ear coauthored a study that reveals how the gene Atoh1 in the cochlea can be repressed by the protein HIC1, inhibiting hair cell differentiation. It also demonstrates the power of combining the organoid model with the genetic toolkit to study key regulators of hair cell differentiation, which may help advance the understanding of hair cell development and regeneration.
Postural and Head Control Given Different Environmental Contexts
Fall risk in people with hearing loss has been shown in older adults, and our pilot data suggest balance impairments in people with single-sided hearing are more likely to arise in older participants with moderate dizziness.
Autism-Related Language Difficulties Tied to Involuntary Attention Capture
We examined data from individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) peers while they listened to both meaningful and meaningless sentences. ASD individuals show significantly stronger cortical responses to meaningless compared with meaningful speech in the same canonical language regions where TD individuals exhibit stronger responses to meaningful speech.
3D-Printed Tumor Guides Brain Surgery for Vestibular Schwannoma
Published in the journal Otology & Neurotology in June 2021, our study details a new, 3D-printed, patient-specific tumor model for quantitatively assessing the accuracy of facial nerve tractography in vestibular schwannoma patients.
Measuring Children’s Ability to Hear Speech in Different Competing Backgrounds
Young children spend much of their day listening in noise. However, it is clear that, compared with adults, infants and children are highly susceptible to interference from competing background sounds.
The Gene C1ql1 Is Expressed in Adult Outer Hair Cells of the Mouse Cochlea
We found C1QL1 expression in the cochlear tissue of adult mice, but not in neonatal or developing mice, indicating that the protein is not involved with the development of any aspect of the auditory system. This developmental regulation is surprising as both C1QL1 and the related C1QL3 have synaptogenic functions.
Register for Hearing Health Hour Webinar: The Present and Future of Inner Ear Hair Cell Regeneration
Goodrich and Hertzano will provide a broad overview of the techniques and tools central to the effort—including those developed by HRP scientists—and some of the challenges facing researchers in this endeavor.
Brain Inflammation Is a Potential Target to Treat Tinnitus
Shaowen Bao, Ph.D., an associate professor of physiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Tucson, and colleagues are closing in on potential treatments for tinnitus by connecting brain inflammation to tinnitus.
Creating Complex Virtual Environments to Potentially Help Characterize Dizziness Symptoms
We investigated two different virtual reality paradigms in an attempt to shed light on the mechanisms underlying persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD). The results of this research highlight the value of virtual reality usage and provide a basis for further investigations.
Mass Spectrometry Imaging Reveals Effect of Blasts on Neurotransmitter Levels in the Chinchilla Model
To date there are no clear, definitive management recommendations for tinnitus, whether non-pharmacological or pharmacological. This is mainly due to a poor understanding of the pathomechanism (causes) of tinnitus. An imbalance in the excitation and inhibition of neurotransmitters is implicated, but more research is warranted.