The next time someone whispers in your ear, think "cochlea." The cochlea is the marvelous structure in the inner ear that is shaped like a snail shell and transforms sounds into the nerve impulses ...

Scientists have kept a tiny slice of cochlea alive outside the body, directly witnessing how hair cells amplify sound. The finding confirms a universal principle of hearing and could pave the way for ...

Most cochlear nerves carry information from the cochlea to the brain, but about 5% send signals in the opposite direction: from the brain to the cochlea. The exact role of those fibers has been a ...

The organ of Corti – the hearing organ of the inner ear - forms from a ribbon of progenitor cells running the length of the cochlear duct, termed the prosensory domain. Starting at about embryonic day ...

Older adults fitted with a cochlear implant to compensate for severe hearing loss have significantly poorer cognitive function than their normal-hearing counterparts. Hearing loss is a risk factor for ...

Medically reviewed by William Truswell, MD Key Takeaways The cochlear nerve is part of the eighth cranial nerve and is ...