Hearing Research最新文献

{"title":"Reply to Manley: Is there more to cochlear tuning than meets the ear?","authors":"Gavin M. Bidelman","doi":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109218","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109218","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Enhanced psychophysical and cochlear tuning observed in musicians is unlikely to be explained by mere differences in human cochlear length. A parsimonious account of our 2016 data is improved efferent feedback from the medial olivocochlear efferent system that adjusts masking and tuning properties of the cochlea and is subject to attentional modulation—all functions reported to be enhanced in musically trained ears. Still, new experiments are needed to tease out “nature” vs. “nurture” effects in music-related brain plasticity and move beyond cross-sectional studies and definitions of “musicians” based solely on self-report.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12881,"journal":{"name":"Hearing Research","volume":"459 ","pages":"Article 109218"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143419521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A mutation in Tmem135 causes progressive sensorineural hearing loss","authors":"Mi-Jung Kim ,&nbsp;Shion Simms ,&nbsp;Ghazaleh Behnammanesh ,&nbsp;Wei-Wen Chen ,&nbsp;Yohei Honkura ,&nbsp;Jun Suzuki ,&nbsp;Hyo-Jin Park ,&nbsp;Marcus Milani ,&nbsp;Yukio Katori ,&nbsp;Jonathan E Bird ,&nbsp;Akihiro Ikeda ,&nbsp;Shinichi Someya","doi":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109221","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109221","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Transmembrane protein 135 (TMEM135) is a highly conserved 52 kDa protein with five predicted transmembrane domains that colocalizes with mitochondria and peroxisomes. Previous studies have shown that TMEM135 is involved in mitochondrial dynamics, thermogenesis, and lipid metabolism across multiple tissues and species; however, its role in the inner ear and auditory system remains unknown. We investigated the function of TMEM135 in hearing using wild-type (WT) and <em>Tmem135</em>^{FUN025/FUN025} (<em>FUN025</em>) mutant mice on a CBA/CaJ background, a normal-hearing mouse strain. Although <em>FUN025</em> mice displayed normal auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds at 1 month, we observed significantly elevated ABR thresholds at 8, 16, and 64 kHz by 3 months, which progressed to profound hearing loss by 12 months. Consistent with our auditory testing results, 13-month-old <em>FUN025</em> mice exhibited a severe loss of outer hair cells and more modest changes in inner hair cell survival, spiral ganglion neuron density, and stria vascularis integrity in the cochlea. Our results using BaseScope RNA in situ hybridization indicate that TMEM135 is expressed in the inner hair cells, outer hair cells, supporting cells, and stria vascularis. Using Volocity software and Costes colocalization analysis, we found that TMEM135 closely colocalizes with mitochondria in hair cells. Together, these results demonstrate that the <em>FUN025</em> mutation in <em>Tmem135</em> causes progressive sensorineural hearing loss, and suggest that TMEM135 is crucial for maintaining key cochlear cell types and normal sensory function in the aging cochlea.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12881,"journal":{"name":"Hearing Research","volume":"459 ","pages":"Article 109221"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143428005","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Music to my ears","authors":"Geoffrey A. Manley","doi":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109219","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109219","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Both psychoacoustic and cochlear measurements of frequency selectivity in humans indicate that persons with substantial active musical experience can show higher selectivity values. The influence of experience on neural networks in the brain is compatible with what is known about learning and development and thus changes in frequency selectivity of elements in the auditory pathway. Assumed changes in cochlear selectivity as the result of experience, however, lack both any known anatomical substrate and precedent. Here, the data interpretations of Bidelmann et al. (2016) are questioned as not being parsimonious, and the suggestion is raised that in fact there are no changes in the cochlea of musicians. Instead, within the assumed large range of differences in human cochlear length, those persons with innately better cochlear selectivity are more likely to take up music as a career or pastime.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12881,"journal":{"name":"Hearing Research","volume":"459 ","pages":"Article 109219"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143436702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Checkerboard cellular pattern in auditory epithelia: Implications for auditory function and sensory pathology","authors":"Hideru Togashi","doi":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109220","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109220","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sensory epithelia are composed of specialized cells arranged in specific patterns essential for function. The auditory epithelium of the organ of Corti features a highly conserved checkerboard pattern of mechanosensory hair and supporting cells, preventing direct hair cell contact and preserving epithelial integrity. In mice, disruption of this pattern results in deafness due to hair cell apoptosis caused by abnormal adherens and tight junction formation and structural fragility. This pattern is evolutionarily conserved across species, highlighting its functional significance. Direct hair cell contact, which normally does not occur, leads to abnormal adhesion molecule accumulation, altered ion permeability, and subsequent cell death. The checkerboard pattern likely evolved to optimize hair-supporting cell interactions while maintaining epithelial stability. This review explores the physiological significance of this cellular arrangement in auditory function and the consequences of its disruption, which leads to hearing loss. Understanding the mechanisms governing this pattern may provide insights into hearing disorders and potential therapeutic approaches.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12881,"journal":{"name":"Hearing Research","volume":"459 ","pages":"Article 109220"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143453090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Finite element analysis of the osseous spiral lamina’s influence on inner ear fluid flow during bone conduction stimulation","authors":"Simon Kersten ,&nbsp;Henning Taschke ,&nbsp;Michael Vorländer","doi":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109205","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109205","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recent studies have investigated the anatomy and motion of the human cochlear partition, revealing insights into the flexible nature of the osseous spiral lamina (OSL). These investigations have primarily focused on air-conducted stimulation, leaving the impact of the OSL’s flexibility during bone-conducted (BC) stimulation largely unexplored. By considering the OSL as either flexible or rigid in a finite element model of the human inner ear, we examined the effect of the OSL’s flexibility on the fluid flow in the inner ear during BC stimulation, which was divided into contributors entering via the oval window (OW) and rigid body stimulation.</div><div>Our results with rigid body stimulation indicate that the OSL facilitates an increased differential fluid flow at the round window compared to the OW, aligning with experimental observations interpreted as third window effects. Analysis of the OSL motion showed that this contribution results from a compressional motion of the OSL’s vestibular and tympanic plates which is significantly lower in magnitude than the plates’ translation in the direction of the stimulation. Separately applying OW input and rigid body stimulation provided insights into the interaction of BC sound entering via the OW and the reaction of the stapes to complex interior sound pressure distributions. Combined with the observations from a prior study (Kersten et al., 2024b) our results suggest a more important role for the OSL in BC hearing than previously understood. These findings enhance our understanding of the inner ear’s response during BC and contribute to ongoing investigations into the interaction of BC mechanisms, while highlighting the need for further research into the deformation of the cochlear boundaries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12881,"journal":{"name":"Hearing Research","volume":"459 ","pages":"Article 109205"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143395082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dose-response relationship of aspirin and sudden sensorineural hearing loss risk in type 2 diabetes","authors":"Chih Chiang Liu ,&nbsp;Wan-Ming Chen ,&nbsp;Ben-Chang Shia ,&nbsp;Szu-Yuan Wu ,&nbsp;Wen-Jung Chou","doi":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109217","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109217","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) affects 5 to 27 per 100,000 annually, often leading to permanent hearing loss and reduced quality of life. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) may heighten SSNHL risk via vascular damage. Aspirin is used in T2D for cardiovascular protection, yet its effect on SSNHL is uncertain and may vary by dose.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We conducted a cohort study using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database to assess SSNHL risk associated with aspirin use in T2D patients. Eligible T2D patients were categorized based on cumulative aspirin exposure (cDDD ≥ 28 vs. &lt;28) and matched on key covariates. Cox proportional hazards models and Fine and Gray's competing risk model assessed SSNHL and all-cause mortality across quartiles of cumulative aspirin dose.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Among 51,657 matched pairs, SSNHL incidence was similar between aspirin users and non-users, but a dose-response effect emerged: patients in the highest cDDD quartile (Q4) had a significantly reduced SSNHL risk (adjusted HR 0.43, 95 % CI, 0.32–0.58; <em>p</em> &lt; 0.0001), while lower quartiles showed increased risks. Aspirin use was associated with reduced all-cause mortality (adjusted HR 0.77, 95 % CI, 0.75–0.80). Fine and Gray's competing risk model confirmed that this reduction in mortality did not bias the observed dose-dependent protective effect of aspirin on SSNHL. Even after accounting for competing mortality risk, aspirin's protective association with SSNHL remained significant in the highest quartile (Q4, aHR 0.46, 95 % CI, 0.34–0.62; <em>p</em> &lt; 0.0001), indicating an independent protective effect.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Our findings suggest a dose-dependent relationship where high cumulative doses of aspirin reduce SSNHL risk in T2D patients, underscoring the importance of adequate dosing for potential protective effects. Further research is necessary to clarify this dose-response relationship.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12881,"journal":{"name":"Hearing Research","volume":"459 ","pages":"Article 109217"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143378921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ear-specific neuroplasticity for sound localization in individuals with single-sided deafness","authors":"Leeseul Shim ,&nbsp;Jahee Kim ,&nbsp;Gibbeum Kim ,&nbsp;Hyo-Jeong Lee","doi":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109207","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109207","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Studies on cortical plasticity in individuals with single-sided deafness (SSD) show increased activity in the auditory cortex ipsilateral to the hearing ear, impacting auditory localization and rehabilitation outcomes. However, the direct relationship between neuroplastic changes and binaural processing in SSD remains unclear, as does the specificity of plasticity to the affected ear. In this study, two groups of SSD patients (left [Lt] SSD, 17; right [Rt] SSD, 18) of postlingual onset and 13 normal-hearing controls (NC) underwent fMRI during an auditory localization task. The NC group was also treated with earplugs to simulate acute monaural hearing. We compared the cortical networks involved in auditory localization and conducted correlation analyses to identify neural activity associated with SSD duration and localization performance. The response laterality in the auditory cortex was analyzed and compared across groups. Results indicated that extended SSD modulates auditory cortical response in the right primary auditory cortex. The posterior superior temporal gyrus and cingulo-opercular network were linked to improved localization performance. Findings suggest that cortical attentional resources are crucial for auditory spatial behavior in SSD, especially when the left ear is impaired.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12881,"journal":{"name":"Hearing Research","volume":"459 ","pages":"Article 109207"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143378920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Channel crosstalk detected using ECAP measurements is associated with poorer speech perception in cochlear implant users","authors":"Chris J. James ,&nbsp;Marie-Laurence Laborde ,&nbsp;Carole Algans ,&nbsp;Marjorie Tartayre ,&nbsp;Mathieu Marx","doi":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109206","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.heares.2025.109206","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The number and independence of channels in cochlear implants (CI) has long been considered to influence speech recognition, particularly in competing background noise. Measures of channel independence have been obtained via psychophysical and objective means, relying on interactions between probe and masker signals delivered on different channels. In the current study, electrically evoked compound action potentials (ECAP) obtained from 32 Nucleus CI recipients tested at one basal and one apical position were performed using a standard spread-of-excitation procedure. An alternative analysis method, comparing masked responses only, revealed distant maskers as effective or more effective than same-electrode maskers in 13/32 cases. This appears to indicate substantial crosstalk between channels, covering up to nine intracochlear electrodes in one subject. Subjects with atypical responses and no other limiting factors had significantly poorer sentence recognition in noise compared with those with no detected peripheral or cognitive limiting factors. We propose that channel crosstalk detected via ECAPs may be a biomarker for poor or patchy neural survival that leads to poorer speech perception in CI recipients.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12881,"journal":{"name":"Hearing Research","volume":"458 ","pages":"Article 109206"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143377655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A modiolar-pillar gradient in auditory-nerve dendritic length: A novel post-synaptic contribution to dynamic range?","authors":"Serhii Kostrikov ,&nbsp;Jens Hjortkjaer ,&nbsp;Torsten Dau ,&nbsp;Gabriel Corfas ,&nbsp;Leslie D. Liberman ,&nbsp;M. Charles Liberman","doi":"10.1016/j.heares.2024.109172","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.heares.2024.109172","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Auditory-nerve fibers (ANFs) from a given cochlear region can vary in threshold sensitivity by up to 60 dB, corresponding to a 1000-fold difference in stimulus level, although each fiber innervates a single inner hair cell (IHC) via a single synapse. ANFs with high-thresholds also have low spontaneous rates (SRs) and synapse on the side of the IHC closer to the modiolus, whereas the low-threshold, high-SR fibers synapse on the side closer to the pillar cells. Prior biophysical work has identified modiolar-pillar differences in both pre- and post-synaptic properties, but a comprehensive explanation for the wide range of sensitivities remains elusive. Here, in guinea pigs, we used immunostaining for several neuronal markers, including Caspr, a key protein in nodes of Ranvier, to reveal a novel modiolar-pillar gradient in the location of the first ANF heminodes, presumed to be the site of the spike generator, just outside the sensory epithelium. Along the cochlea, from apex to base, the unmyelinated terminal dendrites of modiolar ANFs were 2–4 times longer than those of pillar ANFs. This modiolar-pillar gradient in dendritic length, coupled with the 2–4 fold smaller caliber of modiolar dendrites seen in prior single-fiber labeling studies, suggests there could be a large difference in the number of length constants between the synapse and the spike initiation zone for low- vs high-SR fibers. The resultant differences in attenuation of post-synaptic potentials propagating along these unmyelinated dendrites could be a key contributor to the observed range of threshold sensitivities among ANFs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12881,"journal":{"name":"Hearing Research","volume":"456 ","pages":"Article 109172"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142871831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Early signs of auditory aging: Hearing declines faster in individuals with extended high frequency hearing loss","authors":"Srikanta K Mishra ,&nbsp;Udit Saxena ,&nbsp;Hansapani Rodrigo","doi":"10.1016/j.heares.2024.109171","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.heares.2024.109171","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hearing loss, particularly age-related hearing loss, significantly impacts health and quality of life worldwide. While much of the research has focused on older adults, the early stages of hearing decline remain relatively unexplored. Longitudinal studies examining hearing changes across the adult lifespan, especially at extended high frequencies (EHFs), are scarce. This prospective longitudinal study aimed to explore the rate of hearing threshold shift in young adults with clinically normal audiograms and to assess whether EHF hearing loss could predict future hearing decline in the standard audiometric range. Hearing thresholds were measured at standard audiometric frequencies (0.25 to 8 kHz) and EHFs (10, 12.5, 14, and 16 kHz) in 71 participants (24 females) aged 19 to 38 years (mean age = 27.8 years). Two testing sessions were conducted nearly 24 months apart. Results revealed that the annual rate of threshold shift was significantly higher for EHFs compared to standard audiometric frequencies. A higher EHF threshold, measured in the initial test session, was associated with a greater rate of threshold shift at standard audiometric frequencies, suggesting that EHF hearing loss may serve as an early marker for subsequent hearing decline. Even with a normal audiogram, individuals with EHF hearing loss are at an increased risk of accelerated hearing deterioration. These findings show preclinical, age-related changes in young adults with normal audiograms and underscore the importance of early detection and monitoring of EHF hearing loss to mitigate the impact of future hearing loss on their overall health and well-being.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12881,"journal":{"name":"Hearing Research","volume":"456 ","pages":"Article 109171"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142894043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}