Heads of Laboratories The majority of the hearing impaired
suffer from sensorineural hearing loss, also referred to as
“nerve deafness.” Despite its name, this type of hearing loss
usually results from damage to the hair cells of the inner ear.
The human cochlea contains about 16,000 of these hair cells,
which do not regenerate once they have been damaged. Dr.
Hudspeth’s laboratory is working to better understand the normal
hearing process and causes of hearing deterioration as an
initial step toward the prevention or reversal of deafness.
Sound consists of rapid pressure fluctuations in the air, and
hearing commences when these signals impinge upon the external
ear, setting the eardrum into oscillatory motion. This movement
is relayed through the three miniscule bones of the middle ear —
the hammer, anvil and stirrup — to the snail-shaped cochlea.
Within the cochlea, these mechanical signals are converted into
vibrations along the basilar membrane, upon which the hair cells
stand in four ranks. Each hair cel