Have you ever wondered if there may be a way to identify noise-induced damage before hearing loss occurs?
If so, you may want to check out this study by Parham and colleagues (2018). In 2018, these researchers studied the levels of prestin (a protein found specifically in outer hair cells) in the blood of mice after being exposed to noise. This study revealed that the levels of prestin rose sharply when outer hair cells were damaged and start to die. The authors discuss the implications of these findings and next steps for studying the phenomena in humans.
Reference
Parham K, Sohal M, Petremann M, Romanet C, Broussy A, Tran Van Ba C, Dyhrfjeld-Johnsen J. (2018) Noise-induced trauma produces a temporal pattern of change in blood levels of the outer hair cell biomarker prestin. Hear Res 371:98-104.
Related Posts
Another Useless Body Part…
If you have a dog or cat, you’ve probably seen their ears moving toward an interesting or startling sound. For professional equestrians, watching the ears of their horse allows them to gauge their shifting attention. Humans still have these same muscles, and even more interesting is their relationship to our brain and how we pay attention. …
Memorizing Movements: How Tai Chi Can Improve Balance and Cognition
Tai Chi is not just for increasing balance; it may also help improve cognitive performance. In a recent randomized controlled trial, study participants who practiced a form of Tai Chi twice a week for six months improved their scores on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) when compared to a control group (Fuzhong et al, 2023)….
Skyquakes—Did You Hear It?
The majority of people are familiar with earthquakes, but there is another phenomenon that is not nearly as predictable, and louder—skyquakes. Skyquakes are enigmatic sounds, typically described as a very loud boom or trumpet-sounding noise that has no apparent cause and seems to come from the sky. Their sound is like distant, but very loud, thunder with…