........................................................................................................................................................................................ WASHINGTON Australian researchers are trying a novel way to boost the power of cochlear implants: They beamed gene therapy into the ears of deaf animals and found the combination improved hearing. The approach reported Wednesday isnt ready for human testing, but its part of growing research into ways to let users of cochlear implants experience richer, more normal sound. Normally, microscopic hair cells in the cochlea detect vibrations and convert them to electrical impulses that the brain recognizes as sound. Hearing loss typically occurs as those hair cells are lost, whether from aging, exposure to loud noises or other factors. Cochlear implants substitute for the missing hair cells, sending electrical impulses to directly activate auditory nerves in the brain. Theyve been implanted in more than 300,000 people but, while highly successful, they dont restore hearing to normal, missing out on musical tone, for instance. The idea behind the project was a closer connection between the implant and the auditory nerves, whose bush-like endings can regrow if exposed to nerve-nourishing proteins called neurotrophins, usually provided by the hair cells. Researchers at Australias University of New South Wales figured out how to deliver one of those growth factors. They injected a … Continue reading →

Australian researchers are trying a novel way to boost the power of cochlear implants: They used the technology to beam gene therapy into the ears of deaf animals and found the combination improved hearing. The approach reported Wednesday isn't ready for human testing, but it's part of growing research into ways to let users of cochlear implants experience richer, more normal sound. Normally, microscopic hair cells in a part of the inner ear called the cochlea detect vibrations and convert them to electrical impulses that the brain recognizes as sound. Hearing loss typically occurs as those hair cells are lost, whether from aging, exposure to loud noises or other factors. Cochlear implants substitute for the missing hair cells, sending electrical impulses to directly activate auditory nerves in the brain. They've been implanted in more than 300,000 people. While highly successful, they don't restore hearing to normal, missing out on musical tone, for instance. The idea behind the project: Perhaps a closer connection between the implant and the auditory nerves would improve hearing. Those nerves' bush-like endings can regrow if exposed to nerve-nourishing proteins called neurotrophins. Usually, the hair cells would provide those. Researchers at Australia's University of New South Wales … Continue reading →

The performance of cochlear implants has been improved with the use of gene therapy, suggesting a new avenue for developing better hearing aids A computer-tomography scan shows a deaf guinea pig's skull and cochlear implant. Credit:UNSW Australia Biological Resources Imaging Laboratory and National Imaging Facility of Australia Gene therapy delivered to the inner ear can help shrivelled auditory nerves to regrow and in turn, improve bionic ear technology, researchers report today inScience Translational Medicine. The work, conducted in guinea pigs, suggests a possible avenue for developing a new generation of hearing prosthetics that more closely mimics the richness and acuity of natural hearing. Sound travels from its source to ears, and eventually to the brain, through a chain of biological translations that convert air vibrations to nerve impulses. When hearing loss occurs, its usually because crucial links near the end of this chain between the ears cochlear cells and the auditory nerve are destroyed. Cochlear implants are designed to bridge this missing link in people with profound deafness by implanting an array of tiny electrodes that stimulate the auditory nerve. Although cochlear implants often work well in quiet situations, people who have them still struggle to understand music or follow … Continue reading →

The gene therapy study is hoped to lead to the development of new drugs to treat the incurable disease GENE THERAPY. Spanish scientists injected a gene which causes the production of a protein that is blocked in patients with Alzheimers, into the hippocampus in mice that were in the initial stages of the disease. MADRID, Spain Spanish scientists have for the first time used gene therapy to reverse memory loss in mice with Alzheimer's, an advance that could lead to new drugs to treat the disease, they said Wednesday, April 23. The Autonomous University of Barcelona team injected a gene which causes the production of a protein that is blocked in patients with Alzheimer's into the hippocampus a region of the brian essential to memory processing in mice that were in the initial stages of the disease. "The protein that was reinstated by the gene therapy triggers the signals needed to activate the genes involved in long-term memory consolidation," the university said in a statement. Gene therapy involves transplanting genes into a patient's cells to correct an otherwise incurable disease caused by a failure of one or another gene. The finding was published in The Journal of Neuroscience and it … Continue reading →

Cochlear implants have restored hearing to many deaf people, but they havent advanced much since they were unveiled in the 1970s. That may be set to change with an exciting new advance, not in the technology of the device itself, but rather in using gene therapy to increase the devices effectiveness. Today researchers announced that theyve been able to restore tonal hearing in guinea pigs with the new method of gene delivery. Cochlear implants, or bionic ears, work by stimulating the auditory nerve to restore a rudimentary kind of hearing. This works pretty well, butthe gap between the electrodes and the degenerating nerve is pretty big, which makes communication difficult. Andeven the state-of-the-art implants only have 22 electrodes, enabling them to hear 22 different tones. They cant, for example, distinguish between the soft buzz of a clarinet and the shrill sound of a flute. Teams of researchers have tried to improve upon the implants over the last decade by trying to focus the electrical currents more narrowly, to stimulate a smaller, more pitch-specific area of the nerve, or to use drugs that improve the communication between the electrodes and the neurons. But this new method, reported today in Science Translational … Continue reading →

UNSW Australia Biological Resources Imaging Laboratory and National Imaging Facility of Australia A computer-tomography scan shows a deaf guinea pig's skull and cochlear implant. Gene therapy delivered to the inner ear can help shrivelled auditory nerves to regrow and in turn, improve bionic ear technology, researchers report today in Science Translational Medicine1. The work, conducted in guinea pigs, suggests a possible avenue for developing a new generation of hearing prosthetics that more closely mimics the richness and acuity of natural hearing. Sound travels from its source to ears, and eventually to the brain, through a chain of biological translations that convert air vibrations to nerve impulses. When hearing loss occurs, its usually because crucial links near the end of this chain between the ears cochlear cells and the auditory nerve are destroyed. Cochlear implants are designed to bridge this missing link in people with profound deafness by implanting an array of tiny electrodes that stimulate the auditory nerve. Although cochlear implants often work well in quiet situations, people who have them still struggle to understand music or follow conversations amid background noise. After long-term hearing loss, the ends of the auditory nerve bundles are often frayed and withered, so the … Continue reading →