Hair Cell Regeneration, Repair, and Protection

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of comprehensive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modern auditory research. The volumes are aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research, including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators. The volumes are intended to introduce new investigators to important aspects of hearing science and to help established investigators to better understand the fundamental theories and data in fields of hearing that they may not normally follow closely. Each volume presents a particular topic comprehensively, and each serves as a synthetic overview and guide to the literature. As such, the chapters present neither exhaustive data reviews nor original research that has not yet appeared in peer-reviewed journals. The volumes focus on topics that have developed a solid data and conceptual foundation rather than on those for which a literature is only beginning to develop. New research areas will be covered on a timely basis in the series as they begin to mature.

Sensory hair cells in the inner ear and vestibular system convert mechanical stimuli, sound, and motion into neural activity that is responsible for the sensations of hearing, motion, and head position. In mammals, the loss of hair cells from acoustic over-stimulation, ototoxic drugs and aging is irreversible, leading to a permanent loss of function. However, it is now clear that hair cells in other vertebrates are capable of regenerating and recovering partial or complete function. This book provides a comprehensive survey of what is currently known about the regeneration, repair, and protection of sensory hair cells and the subsequent recovery of function in the auditory and vestibular systems. The editors and authors provide graduate students, clinicians, and scientists in the biological basis of hair cells and with an understanding of the factors that contribute to their regeneration and repair.

Overview: Regeneration and Repair.- Morphological Correlates of Regeneration and Repair in the Inner Ear.- Recovery of Function in the Avian Auditory System After Ototrauma.- Functional Recovery After Hair Cell Regeneration in Birds.- Hair Cell Regeneration: Mechanisms Guiding Cellular Proliferation and Differentiation.- Protection and Repair of Inner Ear Sensory Cells.- Gene Arrays, Cell Lines, Stem Cells, and Sensory Regeneration in Mammalian Ears.