Important Scientific Discoveries Give Hope of Finding a Cure
Problems that affect hearing, such as tinnitus, represent the fourth largest unmet health need across the world according to the World Health Organisation and many similar bodies.
It is a scandal that hearing-related conditions, such as tinnitus have largely been ignored by the medical community.
However, over the last couple of years we have begun to see an increased interest from both the medical community and pharmaceutical companies to find effective treatments for tinnitus and other hearing-related conditions.
Why are medics suddenly interested? There has been a dramatic increase in the basic understanding of how our hearing works - both when functioning normally and when damaged. This greater understanding provides the platform essential for the development of effective treatments.�
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Important Scientific Discoveries
How sensory cells work
Some of the most important discoveries of how the auditory system works include the way in which the individual sensory cells of the inner ear, or cochlea, work together to physically amplify some of the very small energy present in sound signals.� The quietest sounds we can hear, such as a whisper, are equivalent to less than a million billionth of a watt!�
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How sound energy changes into a nerve signal
Another very important discovery is how the inner ear and the rest of the auditory system change the sound energy into nerve signals that are then interpreted by the brain to give us our hearing. What happens is that molecules belonging to two distinct types of neurotransmitters, known as excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters, connect with specific receptors on nerves - generating nerve signals.�
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How sensitive the auditory system is
To make any advance in research, it is crucial that scientists understand exactly how sensitive the auditory system is to damage.� We know that the inner ear is exquisitely sensitive to sound, and that prolonged noise exposure often results in damage and even the death of these cells essential to the normal hearing process.�
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Scientists now believe that damage in the inner ear can lead to further changes in the nerve cells of the auditory pathway in the brain.
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Link between auditory damage and tinnitus
A discovery that is of great interest to the research community is the link between the changes following damage in the auditory system and the associated role of neurotransmitters in generating tinnitus. This knowledge has brought potential treatments for conditions such as tinnitus closer.
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Action for Tinnitus Research is determined to push the boundaries of research further and keep tinnitus research on the agenda.� With your help, we are confident we can find a cure for tinnitus.
