New therapies to prevent or cure auditory disorders

This volume focuses on new molecular therapies that aim to prevent specific pathologies of the ear, like age-related hearing loss, noise-induced hearing loss and ototoxicity. The book discusses the regenerative capacity of hair cells in the inner ear, exploring the idea that hair cells’ capacity to regenerate appears “repressed” in adult mammals, but that it will be possible to re-activate regeneration with an appropriate therapeutic approach. The book provides an overview of inflammatory and immune cells in the cochlear lateral wall, the pathways involved in cochlear damage, and their potential as therapeutic targets. It also describes the significant advances in animal models which play an important role in revealing the underlying mechanisms and treatment for tinnitus and hyperacusis. Finally, the book describes two new automatic and robust measures to evaluate hearing loss and tinnitus in preclinical models.