Sensorineural hearing impairment is the most common form of hearing loss, and
encompasses pathologies of the cochlea and the auditory nerve. Hearing impairment …

Most neuronal communication relies upon the synchronous release of neurotransmitters,
which occurs through synaptic vesicle exocytosis triggered by action potential invasion of a …

In recent years, sensory neuroscientists have made major efforts to dissect the structure and
function of ribbon synapses which process sensory information in the eye and ear. This …

Auditory prostheses can partially restore speech comprehension when hearing fails. Sound
coding with current prostheses is based on electrical stimulation of auditory neurons and …

When it comes to fusion with the neuronal cell membrane, does a synaptic vesicle have a
choice whether to stop or to go? Recent work suggests that complexin, a tiny protein found …

Inner hair cell ribbon synapses indefatigably transmit acoustic information. The proteins
mediating their fast vesicle replenishment (hundreds of vesicles per s) are unknown. We …

Cochlear inner hair cells (IHCs), the mammalian auditory sensory cells, encode acoustic
signals with high fidelity by Graded variations of their membrane potential trigger rapid and …

Calcium influx through voltage-gated Ca (CaV) channels is the first step in synaptic
transmission. This review concerns CaV channels at ribbon synapses in primary sense …

Hearing relies on rapid, temporally precise, and sustained neurotransmitter release at the
ribbon synapses of sensory cells, the inner hair cells (IHCs). This process requires otoferlin …

Sound is encoded at synapses between cochlear inner hair cells and the auditory nerve.
These synapses are anatomically and functionally specialized to transmit acoustic …