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Turn Down Your Ears
Reported January 22, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Loud concerts and parties today -- hearing aids
tomorrow, right? It turns out, researchers may have discovered a simple
alteration to the ear canal that protects against acoustic trauma from loud
noises.
An existing sound-limiting system in the ear sends signals from the brain to
turn down sensory hair cells in the ear. However, researchers at Johns
Hopkins found genetically altering a block on a protein involved in this
process (nAChR) will further "turn down" the ear. Researchers say these
findings show this existing system functions to protect the ear from
acoustic damage.
"We think this pathway could be a therapeutic target for protecting from
sound damage," Paul Fuchs, Ph.D., study author and professor of
otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, was
quoted as saying.
Mice with the alteration were less able to hear soft sounds than normal
mice, but they also suffered less permanent hearing damage when exposed to
100-decibel sounds -- levels commonly produced in nightclubs or in rock
concerts.
SOURCE: PLoS Biology, 2009 |
