Inner Ear Discovery Helps Explain How Sound Waves Become Brain Signals

D-brief
By Lacy Schley
Mar 6, 2019 7:45 PMMay 17, 2019 9:05 PM
cochlea
A high-powered microscope shows mouse ear close up, revealing bundles of inner and outer hair cells in the cochlea. The white filaments here are hairs of the bundles. Those are connected by tip links.(Credit: Tobias Bartsch)

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Scientists at Rockefeller University claim they’ve pinpointed a protein in the ear that acts as a sort of molecular gatekeeper, helping convert soundwaves into the electrical signals that our brains interpret as sound. The finding, though incremental, helps establish a more detailed understanding of how hearing works.

Down the Inner-Ear Rabbit Hole

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