Sometimes, in the world of science, an unexpected finding can change everything.
That’s exactly what happened at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester.
A student named Daxiang Na was looking at some data for a project when he found something surprising. He noticed that where certain plaques show up in the brain might cause hearing loss.
Alzheimer’s, Mice, and Hearing Loss
Daxiang Na was testing the hearing of mice with something called amyloid beta.
This is a part of the protein plaques and tangles that you see in Alzheimer’s disease. He was looking at two different types of mice that were changed to have Alzheimer’s.
One type, called 5xFAD, showed hearing changes in older mice. This was just like what happens in people with Alzheimer’s. But the other type didn’t have these changes. And neither did the younger 5xFAD mice.
Na said, “Both types of mice had the amyloid beta protein. But where we found the plaque was different. That might be why their hearing was different.”
Where the Plaques Show Up
The scientists saw that the brains of the older mice had plaques in the hippocampus and auditory cortex. These are parts of the brain that have to do with memory and hearing.
But the mice with hearing changes also had a small amount of plaque on the auditory brainstem. This is the part of the brain that controls our responses to sound.
The scientists think that this part of the brain is sensitive to the plaques. They found that the plaques made the brainstem less able to respond to sound.
The Bigger Picture
Patricia White, a professor of Neuroscience, said, “This might explain why people with Alzheimer’s have problems with their hearing. We think where the plaques are is more important for hearing loss.”
She also said that this finding could be used to track the progression of Alzheimer’s. Doctors could look at these plaques using PET imaging. And regular tests of the auditory brainstem could help with diagnosis.
In conclusion, this research has shown a new and unexpected link between Alzheimer’s disease and hearing loss. It shows that sometimes, even when we’re not looking for it, science can surprise us with new discoveries.
And these discoveries can give us new ways to understand and treat diseases like Alzheimer’s.
If you care about hearing loss, please read studies about antibiotic drug that can lead to hearing loss, and whether you should get an hearing aid or see a specialist.
If you care about brain health, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.
The study was published in Frontiers in Neuroscience. Follow us on Twitter for more articles about this topic.
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