Cellular mechanisms underlying the sense of balance

平衡感背后的细胞机制

• 批准号: nhmrc : 100905
• 负责人: Prof Alan Brichta
• 金额: $ 12.87万
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: NHMRC Project Grants
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2000-01-01 至 2002-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://researchdata.edu.au/cellular-mechanisms-underlying-sense-balance/99638
• 关键词: Cellular; mechanisms; underlying; sense; balance

Dizziness, vertigo, and imbalance are major reasons for visits to the doctor, particularly by the elderly. For example, balance related falls account for an astonishing 50% of accidental deaths in people over 65. Inner ear disturbances account for 85% of these cases. Illness, infections, disease, head trauma or simply the natural aging process cause these disturbances and it is thought that they result in abnormal signals being sent from the inner ear to the brain. In spite of the health costs associated with disorders of balance, very little is known about how signals are generated in our vestibular organs, let alone what abnormal changes may occur. Our attempts to understand balance in humans have been hampered by the lack of suitable experimental models. This proposal takes advantage of a newly developed mouse preparation to study key problems that could not be realistically addressed in whole animal or dissociated cells. We will investigate three critical components of balance organs. These components are: 1) hair cells that detect motion; 2) nerve endings that send information from hair cells to the brain; and 3) nerve endings that bring information from the brain. The aim of this proposal is to understand how these components interact with each other to provide us with a sense of balance. This knowledge will be the first of its kind and contribute significantly to our understanding of human vestibular function and pathology.

头晕、眩晕和失衡是去看医生的主要原因，尤其是老年人。例如，在65岁以上的人群中，与平衡相关的福尔斯跌倒占意外死亡的50%，这一比例令人吃惊。内耳障碍占这些病例的85%。疾病，感染，疾病，头部创伤或简单的自然衰老过程导致这些干扰，并认为它们导致异常信号从内耳发送到大脑。尽管与平衡障碍相关的健康成本，但我们对前庭器官如何产生信号知之甚少，更不用说可能发生的异常变化了。由于缺乏合适的实验模型，我们试图了解人类的平衡受到了阻碍。该提案利用新开发的小鼠制剂来研究在整个动物或解离细胞中无法实际解决的关键问题。我们将研究平衡器官的三个关键组成部分。这些组成部分是：1）检测运动的毛细胞; 2）将信息从毛细胞发送到大脑的神经末梢;以及3）从大脑带来信息的神经末梢。本提案的目的是了解这些组件如何相互作用，以为我们提供平衡感。这些知识将是第一次，并有助于我们对人类前庭功能和病理学的理解。