Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Hearing

Hearing

When we hear a sound, our nervous system is detecting sound waves—pressure waves of mechanical energy traveling through a medium. The frequency of the wave is perceived as pitch, while the amplitude is perceived as loudness.

Unrenewable Cells

Unrenewable Cells

In humans, the photoreceptor cells of the eye and sensory hair cells of the ear lack stem cells. These cells are thus unrenewable and cannot be replaced when they are damaged or destroyed.
Photoreceptors
The retina is composed of several layers and contains specialized cells called photoreceptors. The photoreceptors (rods and cones) change their membrane potential when stimulated by light energy. There are two types of photoreceptors—rods and cones—which differ in the shape of their outer...

Auditory Pathway

Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...

The Cochlea

The Cochlea

The cochlea is a coiled structure in the inner ear that contains hair cells—the sensory receptors of the auditory system. Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea by small bones attached to the eardrum called the ossicles, which vibrate the oval window that leads to the inner ear. This causes fluid in the chambers of the cochlea to move, vibrating the basilar membrane.

Hair Cells

Hair Cells

Hair cells are the sensory receptors of the auditory system—they transduce mechanical sound waves into electrical energy that the nervous system can understand. Hair cells are located in the organ of Corti within the cochlea of the inner ear, between the basilar and tectorial membranes. The actual sensory receptors are called inner hair cells. The outer hair cells serve other functions, such as sound amplification in the cochlea, and are not discussed in detail here.

Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location

Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location

The human brain perceives pitch through two primary mechanisms reflected in place theory and frequency theory. Each mechanism describes how sound waves are interpreted as specific pitches by the brain, offering insights into the intricate processes of auditory perception.
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Enhancement in the performance of Nb<sub>14</sub>W<sub>3</sub>O<sub>44</sub> high power anodes through P doping in the tetrahedral sites.

Dalton transactions (Cambridge, England : 2003)·2025

Same author

Intra-temporal and intracranial radiological abnormalities in cochlear implantation.

Irish medical journal·2025

Same author

Waste not, want not: measuring waste and potential clinical risk from limited gatekeeping.

Irish medical journal·2025

Same author

Plastic ingestion in aquatic insects: Implications of waterbirds and landfills and association with stable isotopes.

The Science of the total environment·2024

Same author

Increasing the Resolution of Transmission Electron Microscopy by Computational Ghost Imaging.

Physical review letters·2024

Same author

A further case of chondrodysplasia with growth failure occurring after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

American journal of medical genetics. Part A·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Published on: January 23, 2017

Sensorineural hearing loss in children.

R Wormald¹, L Viani, S A Lynch

¹Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont, Dublin 9. r_wormald@yahoo.com

Irish Medical Journal

|July 30, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Hereditary factors are the leading cause of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in Irish children, with most diagnosed late. This highlights the need for early screening programs to improve outcomes for pediatric hearing loss.

More Related Videos

Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Published on: January 25, 2016

Cryosectioning and Immunostaining Mouse Inner Ear Tissue: From Embryonic to Adult Stages

Cryosectioning and Immunostaining Mouse Inner Ear Tissue: From Embryonic to Adult Stages

Published on: April 11, 2025

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Published on: January 23, 2017

Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Published on: January 25, 2016

Cryosectioning and Immunostaining Mouse Inner Ear Tissue: From Embryonic to Adult Stages

Cryosectioning and Immunostaining Mouse Inner Ear Tissue: From Embryonic to Adult Stages

Published on: April 11, 2025

Area of Science:

Genetics
Audiology
Pediatrics

Background:

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is a common congenital condition.
Identifying the aetiology of SNHL in children is crucial for management and genetic counselling.
Previous studies have not specifically focused on the causes of hearing loss in the Irish pediatric population.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the causes of SNHL in children referred to the National Centre of Medical Genetics.
To determine the proportion of hereditary versus acquired causes of SNHL.
To establish the age of diagnosis and degree of hearing loss in the studied cohort.

Main Methods:

Retrospective chart review of 129 pediatric patients investigated for SNHL between 1998 and 2006.
Analysis of patient records to identify the aetiology, degree, and age of diagnosis of hearing loss.
Categorization of hearing loss causes into hereditary, acquired, or unknown.

Main Results:

The average age of SNHL diagnosis was 36 months.
Hereditary hearing loss accounted for 66% of cases, acquired hearing loss for 8%, and 33% remained unknown.
The majority of children presented with severe (31) or profound (57) hearing loss.

Conclusions:

Hereditary factors are the predominant cause of SNHL in Irish children.
The high average age of diagnosis indicates a significant delay and underscores the necessity of implementing neonatal hearing screening.
Further research is needed to identify the aetiology in children with unknown causes of hearing loss.