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Retinoic acid signalling regulates the development of tonotopically patterned hair cells in the chicken cochlea
Precise frequency discrimination is a hallmark of auditory function in birds and mammals and relies on specific phenotypic patterning of the sensory hair cells in the inner ear. Here, Thiede et al. compare the transcriptomes of different regions of the embryonic chicken cochlea and find that retinoic acid plays a role in patterning the phenotypes of frequency-tuned hair cells in the cochlea.
- Benjamin R. Thiede
- , Zoë F. Mann
- & Jeffrey T. Corwin
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Evidence for distinct human auditory cortex regions for sound location versus identity processing
Observational imaging studies in humans have suggested that sound identification and localization occur in the same region of the auditory cortex. Ahveninen et al. now show that sound identity and location are processed in anterior and posterior regions, respectively, of the auditory cortex.
- Jyrki Ahveninen
- , Samantha Huang
- & Tommi Raij
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Blurry topography for precise target-distance computations in the auditory cortex of echolocating bats
Topographic cortical representation of echo delay is instrumental for general orientation in bats. Hechavarría et al. show that topographic maps in the bat auditory cortex that are associated with minimal and optimal echo delays are less organized than maps associated with maximum echo delays.
- Julio C. Hechavarría
- , Silvio Macías
- & Manfred Kössl
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Brief hearing loss disrupts binaural integration during two early critical periods of auditory cortex development
Auditory cortical circuits are shaped by the experience of sound. By inducing reversible hearing loss at key milestones in cortical development, Polley et al. identify two critical periods occurring shortly after hearing onset that regulate the maturation of coordinated binaural sound representations.
- Daniel B. Polley
- , John H. Thompson
- & Wei Guo
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Active cochlear amplification is dependent on supporting cell gap junctions
Outer hair cell electromotility contributes to the cochlear amplifier during hearing. Here the authors find that targeted-deletion of the gap junction protein connexin 26 results in reduced electromotility of outer hair cells, reduced cochlear amplification and hearing loss in mice.
- Yan Zhu
- , Chun Liang
- & Hong-Bo Zhao
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Ephrin-A5/EphA4 signalling controls specific afferent targeting to cochlear hair cells
Cochlear inner and outer hair cells receive afferent innervation from type I and type II spiral ganglion neurons, respectively. Defourny et al. find that, in the absence of ephrin-A5 and its receptor EphA4, a subset of type I spiral ganglion neuron projections invade the outer hair cell area.
- Jean Defourny
- , Anne-Lise Poirrier
- & Brigitte Malgrange
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Spatial organization of frequency preference and selectivity in the human inferior colliculus
Studies in animals have shown that the inferior colliculus of the auditory pathway is tonotopically organized. This fMRI study in humans reveals a low-to-high frequency gradient in the inferior colliculus that is tonotopically oriented, as well as spectral selectivity based on responses to natural sounds.
- Federico De Martino
- , Michelle Moerel
- & Elia Formisano
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Sound-induced length changes in outer hair cell stereocilia
In the inner ear, sound waves produce movements in hair cell sterocilia, triggering the opening of ion channels. Hakizimana and colleagues show that the resultant currents change the length of sterocilia, and that these length changes alter the efficiency by which sound is converted into electrical signals.
- Pierre Hakizimana
- , William E. Brownell
- & Anders Fridberger
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The amniote paratympanic organ develops from a previously undiscovered sensory placode
The paratympanic organ in the avian middle ear is similar to the fish spiracular organ, but its developmental origin is unresolved. O'Neillet al. use fate mapping techniques to show that the avian paratympanic organ and its afferent neurons arise from a previously undiscovered neurogenic placode.
- Paul O'Neill
- , Siu-Shan Mak
- & Clare V.H. Baker
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Environmental noise exposure degrades normal listening processes
The damaging effects of loud noise on auditory function are well established, but the effects of low-level noise are not so well understood. Zhou and Merzenich chronically expose adult rats to structured low-level noise and find that it causes auditory cortex damage and sound discrimination impairment.
- Xiaoming Zhou
- & Michael M. Merzenich
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Auditory cortex of newborn bats is prewired for echolocation
Bats use a process known as echolocation to measure the distance of an object by echo delay. Here, studies in newborn bats reveal that echo delay tuning of neurons in the auditory cortex is present at birth rather than acquired as a result of echolocation experience.
- Manfred Kössl
- , Cornelia Voss
- & Marianne Vater
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Review Article |
Integrating the biophysical and molecular mechanisms of auditory hair cell mechanotransduction
Hair cells of the inner ear transduce vibrations of the basilar membrane into electrical signals by a process known as mechanotransduction. Recent advances in genetic and molecular tools have led to an improved understanding of mechanotransduction as Peng and colleagues summarize in this Review.
- Anthony W. Peng
- , Felipe T. Salles
- & Anthony J. Ricci
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Relative comparisons of call parameters enable auditory grouping in frogs
Male túngara frogs produce overlapping mating calls, which poses a challenge for the female frog to group and assign multiple auditory signals to the correct source. Farris and Ryan shows that, like humans, the female frogs compare and group signals using the smallest relative difference in call parameters.
- Hamilton E. Farris
- & Michael J. Ryan
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Ultrasonic frogs show extraordinary sex differences in auditory frequency sensitivity
Acoustic communication is important for the reproductive behaviour of frogs. Using acoustic playback experiments, Shenet al. show that calls from male concave-eared frogs (Odorrana tormota) evoke vocal responses and phonotaxis from females, but the females show no ultrasonic sensitivity.
- Jun-Xian Shen
- , Zhi-Min Xu
- & Shang-Chun Fan
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Measurement of cochlear power gain in the sensitive gerbil ear
The cochlear amplifier in the inner ear is thought to mediate sensitivity to soft sounds, but this power gain has not been measured directly. Renet aluse an interferometer to measure the volume displacement and velocity of the cochlear partition and demonstrate experimentally that the cochlea amplifies soft sounds.
- Tianying Ren
- , Wenxuan He
- & Peter G. Gillespie
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| Open AccessGipc3 mutations associated with audiogenic seizures and sensorineural hearing loss in mouse and human
Progressive sensorineural hearing loss affects many people, but the underlying genetics remain largely undefined. Here, the authors identify mutations inGIPC3in mice and two consanguineous families that lead to hearing loss and in mice cause defects in the structure of stereocilia bundles and audiogenic seizures.
- Nikoletta Charizopoulou
- , Andrea Lelli
- & Konrad Noben-Trauth
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| Open AccessTectorial membrane travelling waves underlie abnormal hearing in Tectb mutant mice
Mutation of theTectbgene reduces auditory sensitivity but increases frequency selectivity. Here the authors show that Tectb mutation reduces both the spatial and temporal propagation of travelling waves along the tectorial membrane, explaining the unexpected auditory abnormalities in this mutant.
- Roozbeh Ghaffari
- , Alexander J. Aranyosi
- & Dennis M. Freeman