IUBio

Do nerve cells die due to little stimulation in hearing loss?

crowley9 at ix.netcom.com crowley9 at ix.netcom.com
Tue Nov 10 00:58:00 EST 1998


Thanks for the reply.  I was told by someone who wrote me in response to my
post that talking alone stimulates these nerves so that from the nerve cells
point of view, it's the same as if the hearing was working fine.  This, I
guess, is because the hearing loss is conductive rather than neural.  Thanks
again.

Bill

kkollins at pop3.concentric.net wrote:

> I'll not reply directly to your symptoms, but, yes, central neurons die due
> to lack of stimulation. Neural trophy is activation-dependent... if it were
> not, experience would "make no difference", and "Learning" would be
> "impossible". We'd all be automatons (=completely=, not "almost", as has
> been the case over the course of the millenia). ken collins
>
> crowley9 at ix.netcom.com wrote:
>
> > Hi there.  I had a head injury about 5 weeks ago and lost about 75% to
> > 80% hearing in my right ear.  The ENT doc told me the hearing loss was
> > conductive hearing loss instead of hearing loss caused by damage to the
> > nervous system.  He said that it would not be a big deal to have surgery
> > and fix the ossicle bones (where he thinks the problem is).  I am
> > leaning towards waiting about a year or so to see if the problem
> > resolves itself (based on info obtained from someone else under similar
> > circumstances and from a book on hearing loss) instead of going under
> > the knife now.  What I'd like to know is will waiting a year or so hurt
> > the nerve cells since the amount of hearing stimulation they are getting
> > in that ear is quite low ("use it or lose it")?  Or should I get the
> > bones fixed now so that the nerve cells get lots more stimulation and
> > thus not die in a year or so?  When I pick up the phone and listen to
> > the dial tone in the bad ear, I can barely hear it (loudness intensity
> > is about 20% of the other ear) so there is a little bit reaching the
> > nerves in that ear but not much.  Anyway *any* input at all on this
> > would really be appreciated.  Thanks so much!
> >
> > Bill






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