Role of Ste111 cells i11 the treatment of Sensorineural hearing loss

Abstract

Hearing, one of our primordial senses, is crucial for communication, pleasure and awareness. The impact of a hearing deficit is huge. According to 2005 estimates by WHO, 278 million people worldwide have moderate to profound hearing loss in both ears. The process of sound perception begins at the cochlea which converts the mechanical sound wave into an electrical, nerve-transmitted signal. The cochlea contains two major types of sensory receptor cells, the inner hair cells (IHCs) and the outer hair cells (OHCs). The inner hair cells are responsibe for producing our sensation of hearing. The outer hair cells contain muscle-like filaments that contract upon stimulation and fine tune the response of the basilar membrane to the movement of the traveling wave. The IHC signals are conveyed to higher auditory nuclei in the brainstem via the spiral ganglion neurons (the primary order neuron of the auditory pathway).