Hearing, Cochlea, Tinnitus, Genetics

Nitric oxide signalling underlies salicylate-induced increases in neuronal firing in the inferior colliculus: a central mechanism of tinnitus?

This study shows that salicylate increases neuronal firing in the inferior colliculus via nitric oxide signaling, suggesting a central mechanism for tinnitus.

An in vivo biomarker to characterize ototoxic compounds and novel protective therapeutics

This study introduces a biomarker using fluorescently labeled aminoglycosides in neonatal mice to assess ototoxicity and test protective therapeutics.

Transcriptome Variant Analysis of Noise Susceptibility in C57BL/6J Mice

This study identifies differentially expressed genes associated with varying noise susceptibility in C57BL/6J mice, suggesting potential targets for gene therapy in hearing loss.

Age-Related Central Gain with Degraded Neural Synchrony in the Auditory Brainstem of Mice and Humans

This study shows that aging leads to increased central gain in the auditory brainstem without improved neural synchrony in mice and humans.

Developmental spontaneous activity promotes sensory domains, frequency tuning and proper gain in central auditory circuits

This study shows that cochlear spontaneous activity during development is crucial for proper auditory circuit maturation, affecting frequency tuning and neural gain.

Investigating the Characteristics of Genes and Variants Associated with Self-Reported Hearing Difficulty in Older Adults in the UK Biobank

This study identifies genes and variants associated with self-reported hearing difficulty in older adults using UK Biobank exome sequencing data, finding that both common and rare variants contribute to age-related hearing loss, with sex-specific differences.

Oncomodulin (OCM) uniquely regulates calcium signaling in neonatal cochlear outer hair cells.

This study shows that OCM uniquely regulates intracellular Ca2+ signaling in neonatal cochlear outer hair cells by slowing Ca2+ kinetics and reducing free [Ca2+]i.

Single cell RNA sequencing analysis of mouse cochlear supporting cell transcriptomes with activated ERBB2 receptor, a candidate mediator of hearing restoration mechanisms.

The paper analyzes single-cell RNA sequencing data from mouse cochlear supporting cells with activated ERBB2 to identify gene expression changes associated with potential hearing restoration mechanisms.

Different excitation-inhibition correlations between spontaneous and tone-evoked activity in primary auditory cortex neurons

The paper compares excitation-inhibition correlations in spontaneous and tone-evoked activity in primary auditory cortex neurons of anesthetized rats, finding lower correlation in spontaneous activity.

Population-scale analysis of common and rare genetic variation associated with hearing loss in adults

This study identifies 53 genetic loci associated with hearing loss, including 15 novel ones, using genome-wide and exome-sequencing data from multiple cohorts.

Ultrarare missense and frameshift variants in the TECTA gene may involve tectorial membrane in familial Meniere disease

The paper identifies rare variants in the TECTA gene associated with familial Meniere disease and suggests their impact on tectorial membrane stability.

Inhibitory NPY neurons provide a large and heterotopic commissural projection in the inferior colliculus

The paper investigates the commissural projections of NPY neurons in the inferior colliculus, finding they exhibit a divergent and heterotopic pattern compared to non-NPY neurons.

Chemogenetically decreasing activity of the dorsal cochlear nucleus can ameliorate noise-induced tinnitus in mice

This study shows that reducing activity of CaMKII+ neurons in the dorsal cochlear nucleus decreases tinnitus-like responses in mice, suggesting these neurons maintain, but do not induce, tinnitus.

Multi-tasking Deep Network for Tinnitus Classification and Severity Prediction from Multimodal Structural Images

The paper develops a deep multi-task multi-modal framework to classify tinnitus and predict its severity using structural MRI data, outperforming existing methods.

Inner hair cell synapse density influences auditory processing

This study shows that changes in inner hair cell synapse density affect auditory temporal processing but not reflexes, suggesting a therapeutic approach for hearing loss.

Synaptic plasticity of inhibitory synapses onto medial olivocochlear efferent neurons

The paper investigates short-term plasticity of MNTB-MOC synapses in mice, showing calcium and temperature sensitivity, and how tonic depression affects synaptic inhibition.

Cochlear Neurotrophin-3 overexpression at mid-life prevents age-related cochlear synaptopathy and slows age-related hearing loss

This study shows that overexpressing neurotrophin-3 in middle-aged mice prevents age-related cochlear synaptopathy and slows hearing loss.

Traditional martial arts and shooting training have different effects on auditory fine structure processing ability---Evidence from behavioral tests and fMRI

A novel PLS1 c.981+1G>A variant causes autosomal-dominant hereditary hearing loss in a family via up-regulation of the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway

The paper identifies a novel PLS1 variant causing autosomal-dominant hearing loss by inducing exon8 skipping and upregulating the PI3K-Akt pathway in zebrafish.

Enhanced envelope coding following acoustic trauma is detrimental to neural coding of speech in noise

The paper shows that acoustic trauma enhances noise envelopes more than speech envelopes, impairing speech understanding in noise.

Collateral damage: Identification and characterisation of spontaneous mutations causing deafness from a targeted knockout programme

The paper identifies and characterizes spontaneous mutations causing deafness in mice from a targeted knockout program, showing these mutations are a common side effect of intensive breeding.

Predicting the Influence of Axon Myelination on Sound Localization Precision Using a Spiking Neural Network Model of Auditory Brainstem

This study uses a spiking neural network model to show that axon myelination thickness affects ITD detection in the auditory brainstem, with optimal sensitivity achieved through contralateral inhibition via thicker myelinated axons.

Intrinsic mechanical sensitivity of auditory neurons as a contributor to sound-driven neural activity

This study investigates how mechanical sensitivity in auditory neurons contributes to sound-driven neural activity by shaping phase-locked responses and frequency tuning.

The onset of hearing triggers nuclear translocation in inner hair cells

The paper reports a programmed nuclear translocation in rat cochlear inner hair cells coinciding with the onset of hearing and functional maturation.

Cortical compensation for afferent loss in older adults: Associations with GABA and speech recognition in noise

The paper investigates how older adults' auditory cortex compensates for reduced afferent input by measuring central gain, GABA levels, and speech recognition in noise.

Cochlear theta activity oscillates in phase opposition during interaural attention

This study shows that interaural attention causes phase opposition in cochlear theta activity without affecting amplitude, indicating distinct roles for intermodal and interaural attention in auditory processing.

Targeted deletion of the RNA-binding protein Caprin1 leads to progressive hearing loss and impairs recovery from noise exposure in mice.

This study shows that Caprin1 deletion in mice causes progressive hearing loss and impairs recovery from noise-induced hearing loss.

The Cl- channel TMEM16A controls the generation of cochlear Ca2+ waves and promotes the refinement of auditory brainstem networks

This study shows that TMEM16A in Kollikers organ controls Ca2+ waves and is essential for auditory brainstem network refinement and frequency-selectivity.

The outer-hair-cell RC time constant: A feature, not a bug, of the mammalian cochlea

The paper analyzes the RC time constant of outer hair cells in the mammalian cochlea, showing it is beneficial for hearing by reducing noise and distortion.

Neuroplastin genetically interacts with Cadherin 23 and the encoded isoform Np55 is sufficient for cochlear hair cell function and hearing

This study investigates the role of Neuroplastin in mammalian hearing, showing that only the Np55 isoform is essential for cochlear hair cell function and that its absence interacts genetically with Cdh23 mutations to cause hearing loss.