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Read (or skimmed) the article and I'm not an English native speaker but... TIL that "hair" can be used also for hearing related things? I thought that hair was just "any of the fine threadlike strands growing from the skin of humans, mammals, and some other animals."
Read (or skimmed) the article and I'm not an English native speaker but... TIL that "hair" can be used also for hearing related things? I thought that hair was just "any of the fine threadlike strands growing from the skin of humans, mammals, and some other animals."
The tiny sensors inside your ear are nerves attached to hair of various lengths. It's specialized, but it's recognizably the same thing as the kind on the outside of your body.
"Hair cells are the sensory receptors of both the auditory system and the vestibular system in the ears of all vertebrates, and in the lateral line organ of fishes. Through mechanotransduction, hair cells detect movement in their environment.[1]"
Not obviously related to the article, but given this might attract the hearing-curious or knowledgeable. For as long as I can remember I've had great difficulty hearing in noisy environments. In my younger years it didn't bother me too much as I was mostly at noisy events to enjoy the music anywhere, and if I wanted to talk we'd move somewhere quieter. If I make a concerted effort I can usually hear someone directly…
I got a job at a crowded and noisy casino. During some big events it was so crowded I had to walk sideways through crowds in the slot machine area. And very loud due to slot machines and people talking, yelling, screaming if they win.
Eventually I realized as I conversed with my co-workers we didn't need to yell and I could hear them 10 feet away. Note we did also use CB radios too but no mic just open speakers blasting which added to the noise.
I found out it is called the Cocktail Party Effect. It seems to be a learned skill that comes with time but it isn't something you naturally have. Ironically I probably now have hearing damage too working in that loud environment.
Wild guess: it is not actually what they managed to do.
From the article on PNAS[0]: > Despite the progress in our approach to achieve HC regeneration in the adult cochlea in vitro and in vivo, major challenges remain before potential clinical applications. First, regenerated HCs need to be terminally differentiated and fully mature, and to be located in the sensory epithelial region such that their stereocilia contact the tectorial membrane to mediate the mechanoelectric…
Thanks for adding this context. As someone suffering from SNHL with a great wish to have some of my hearing restored, headlines & articles like these often give my a sense of hope for a near-term solution that turns out to be false. I wish (pop)scientific news would be a little bit more nuanced/careful.. Anyway, great that another small but significant step is made in this terribly complicated problem :)
Not obviously related to the article, but given this might attract the hearing-curious or knowledgeable. For as long as I can remember I've had great difficulty hearing in noisy environments. In my younger years it didn't bother me too much as I was mostly at noisy events to enjoy the music anywhere, and if I wanted to talk we'd move somewhere quieter. If I make a concerted effort I can usually hear someone directly…
And how good do you hear in a silent environment? I'm asking because I feel a bit reflected in your description (always had problem following conversations in a noisy environment) but in a calm one I can hear very faint noises/voices (while others cannot, for example). But TBH I don't know if my noisy envs experience is "normal" or it is just me.
If nothing else I’m finding the current journey interesting as I’m having to re-evaluate what is “normal” for both myself and others, for an experience that is obviously very personal and difficult to compare with others.
Read (or skimmed) the article and I'm not an English native speaker but... TIL that "hair" can be used also for hearing related things? I thought that hair was just "any of the fine threadlike strands growing from the skin of humans, mammals, and some other animals."
We have ultra fine hairs in our ears that wiggle when sound waves travel over them and those hairs bases are connected to receptors that capture those wiggles and send it to your brain. Thats (extremely roughly) how your ears work.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’d love to know what silence is like.
There is this tapping on your head trick[0] that legitimately works for many people (me included) to clear up your tinitius but only for a few seconds after it. If you are curious what silence sounds you can try it. 0. https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/3oauru/if_you_have_...