A TECHNIQUE that stimulates auditory nerve cell endings to resprout could allow more people to recover lost hearing.
In some cases of deafness, cochlear implants can restore hearing by bypassing damaged hair cells and directly stimulating the auditory nerve. But the nerve's health depends on growth factors produced by hair cells, so it tends to deteriorate too, limiting the effectiveness of implants.
Graeme Clark of the Bionic Ear Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues infused growth factors called neurotrophin 3 and BDNF into the inner ears of guinea pigs whose hair cells had been destroyed. This stopped nerve cells from dying and caused nerves to regrow their branch-like extensions within a month. The growth factors were used several weeks after the hair cells had been destroyed, to better mimic the condition of people who have been deaf for years before they get a cochlear implant.
There are several hurdles to ...
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