Recent studies done by scientists in Sweden have shown that the severity of hearing damage an individual can receive is directly related to the time of day. It was found the the cochlea is actually a kind of biological clock. The way it works is that during the daytime the cochlea tells the body to release BDNF, this hormone protects the ear from louder noises. As the day goes on though, the body releases less of the hormone, this is why when you are tired or just woke up normal sounds can seem blazingly loud. Because of this discovery, scientists are already finding ways to treat hearing loss as it was also found that this biological clock could be manipulated to allow release of the hormone when the individual needs it.
This article interested me because I am regularly around loud noises as I am in drumline. With our practices being between 6 and 9 o'clock, the potential for more hearing damage is increased. If it is possible to manipulate when the hormone is released, it could very much save me from a lot of hearing damage.
Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140227125249.htm
Nos Themes: Science is based on evidence. The scientists had done many tests on mice to see if the biological clock could be manipulated
Role of curiosity. Once it was found how the coclea functioned, scientists wanted to see if it was possible to manipulate its timing.
This is a great article. It will be very interesting to see how we can advance hearing aid technology with this information. If scientists are in fact able to manipulate the cochlea into releasing the hormone, we could see some major advancement in hearing technology in the future. One of the potential dangers of this is because BDNF is prevalent in so many parts of the body, it could be dangerous if BDNF is released irregularly in the brain or mouth when it shouldn't be.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting how this hormone could be manipulated to actually protect from hearing loss. I think its actually really cool that there are more ways to prevent hearing damage coming out, along with devices to help those who already suffer from it. There was recently a new hearing aid launched that is the first ever implantable earpiece for those who can't hear low frequency sounds. If you are interested in reading about that the website is here: http://www.medicaldaily.com/fda-approves-first-ever-implantable-hearing-device-people-specific-hearing-impairment-271753
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