Sound Signals

As your friend speaks, they create distortions in the air, which travel to your ears and are interpreted by your brain as words. This last stage, signals passing from the ears to specialised centres in the brain for processing, is not fully understood. One key hearing centre called the inferior colliculus is made of many different groups of neurons [brain cells], but it has proven hard to distinguish these. To investigate, researchers genetically modified mice so their neurons glowed if they expressed a particular gene, called VIP. On inspection, these cells (red) stood out from their neighbours (blue), showing they were a distinct group. Further investigation showed these cells receiving signals from other brain cells and hearing centres, suggesting a wide-ranging influence. Mapping these hearing centres and their wiring is the first step in revealing which parts play a role in hearing loss, to pinpoint and prevent problems occurring.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Image from work by David Goyer and colleagues
• Kresge Hearing Research Institute, Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Research published in eLife, April 2019