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ClaraY ClaraY
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Posts: 40
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A year ago Edited: A year ago, ClaraY
Ear hair cells are mechanoreceptors, and are also respiratory chemoreceptors at the same time. How exactly, do these cells have two functions at the same time?

Ear hair cells are mechanoreceptors (allow us to hear sound) and these same cells are also respiratory chemoreceptors which make us breathe. In 2007 it was discovered that damage, or loss of these cells could cause death from respiratory failure.

In 2007, these scientists made a patent for a device that deaf people will wear during sleep, to monitor their co2 and oxygen levels..

If they stop breathing during sleep, co2 and oxygen get out of range, and the device wakes them up.

In 2011, they confirmed this hypothesis on mice. they put a drug in the mouses ears to remove their ear hairs. this group of mice had breathing problems during sleep, but the mice with intact ear hairs did not...

Does this mean deafness will be fatal? I read that one of the major causes of deafness is loss/damage to the hair cells..
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Anonymous
wrote...
#1
A year ago
Quote
Ear hair cells are mechanoreceptors, and are also respiratory chemoreceptors at the same time. How exactly, do these cells have two functions at the same time?

Ear hair cells possess mechanoreceptors, yes, but are definitely not considered chemoreceptors. A mechanoreceptor is a sensory receptor of a nerve that responds to pressure, vibration, or another mechanical stimulus. This is precisely the way hair cells inside your cochlea work. Along its length the cochlea is divided into three fluid-filled canals: the vestibular canal, the cochlear canal, and the tympanic canal. The partition between the cochlear canal and the tympanic canal is called the basilar membrane. Embedded in the basilar membrane is the spiral-shaped organ of Corti. The sensory cells in the organ of Corti have thousands of hairlike projections that receive sound vibrations from the middle ear and send them on to the brain via the auditory nerve. In the brain they are recognized and interpreted as specific sounds.
ClaraY Author
wrote...
#2
A year ago
The scientists said they discovered a new function of the hair cells, and that is that in addition to being mechanoreceptors, they are also respiratory chemoreceptors.

They said inner ear damage can cause death from respiratory failure, for this very reason.
Anonymous
wrote...
#3
A year ago
"respiratory failure" -- doesn't that imply breathing?
ClaraY Author
wrote...
#4
A year ago
He meant that people could stop breathing in their sleep as a result of inner ear damage, since the same cells which pick up sound, are also respiratory chemoreceptors.

He said if the inner ear hair cells get damaged, a person could develop fatal breathing problems during sleep. 
Anonymous
wrote...
#5
A year ago
Quote from: ClaraY (A year ago)
He meant that people could stop breathing in their sleep as a result of inner ear damage, since the same cells which pick up sound, are also respiratory chemoreceptors.

No, that's absurd. Your ability to hear has nothing to do with your ability to breath. In fact, chemoreceptors are mostly found in sensory organs. For example, taste buds are found on the tongue and olfactory bulbs in the nose.
ClaraY Author
wrote...
#6
A year ago
He meant them being respiratory chemoreceptors that stimulate autonomic breathing.

He said that he and his team discovered a new function of the inner ear hair cells which had previously not been recognized, and that is that the inner ear hair cells have two functions:

To pick up sound / vibrations / movement (mechanoreception)

(Newly discovered function) to detect levels of co2 in the body and drive respiration. (respiratory chemoreception)

Chemoreceptors in the nose and tongue are not respiratory chemoreceptors.
Anonymous
wrote...
#7
A year ago
The person is suggesting that cells within the ear are connected (i.e. enervated) to the breathing apparatus, such as one's lungs? Here's what I know in terms of human physiology. An increase in carbon dioxide concentration in blood brings a remarkable change in the pH of the blood (it becomes more acidic). This change is sensed by the chemoreceptors of the medulla oblongata of the hindbrain which has a regulatory center for respiration. The respiratory center increases the rate of respiration to exhale the extra carbon dioxide and inhale more oxygen (i.e. it causes you to breath more). By your logic, deaf people are more prone to dying due to respiratory issues -- do you have evidence of that?
ClaraY Author
wrote...
#8
A year ago
Instead of the respiratory chemoreceptors being located in the medulla oblongata, this team of scientists said the chemoreceptors are in the ears. Specifically, that the inner ear hair cells are respiratory chemoreceptors (in addition to being mechanoreceptors that pick up sound/movement)

Mice with removed inner ear hair cells lost virtually all of their chemosensitivity. They did not increase their breathing rate in response to high co2 concentrations (the same thing is observed in cases of Ondine's Curse)
Anonymous
wrote...
#9
A year ago
How many studies have cited this study that you're referring to? Usually that is indicative of its validity
ClaraY Author
wrote...
#10
A year ago Edited: A year ago, ClaraY
If I remember correctly, I think it was cited by other studies 4 times.

One of the studies (by a different set of scientists) cited it. But the study was saying there's no conclusive association between hearing loss and sudden death.
Anonymous
wrote...
#11
A year ago
Quote from: ClaraY (A year ago)
One of the studies (by a different set of scientists) cited it. But the study was saying there's no conclusive association between hearing loss and sudden death.

Doesn't that prove my point that the two are unrelated and unconnected?
ClaraY Author
wrote...
#12
A year ago
Quote from: bio_man (A year ago)
Quote from: ClaraY (A year ago)
One of the studies (by a different set of scientists) cited it. But the study was saying there's no conclusive association between hearing loss and sudden death.
Doesn't that prove my point that the two are unrelated and unconnected?

Perhaps, but how does that explain that mice with removed ear hairs had breathing problems, wheras the mice with intact ear hairs did not?

They removed their ear hairs with an antibiotic called gentamicin.

They injected it into their ears.

They waited a couple days before doing a breathing challenge while the mice were under light anesthesia.
wrote...
#13
Educator
A year ago
Quote
Perhaps, but how does that explain that mice with removed ear hairs had breathing problems, wheras the mice with intact ear hairs did not?

Could be some unreported factor that the researcher overlooked. See, by injected "gentamicin", you're introducing a new variable that may not have been controlled in the experiment. The right thing to do would be to produce mice with the gene for hair cell production knocked out, leading to deafness from birth. I don't know exactly what the study was testing for, so I can't comment beyond a reasonable doubt.
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