Objective
We are creatures of sensation, with hundreds of millions of photoreceptors, millions more for touch, smell, and taste. Yet, in each ear, only 16000 hair cells allow us to hear from a whisper to a thunderclap, operating at frequencies that make vision seem slow. How do hair cells achieve this? They must be doing something different—and different by orders of magnitude.
Since the ‘50s, scientists realized that ears amplify sounds through an active process. Its most striking evidence is that ears emit sounds—called spontaneous otoacoustic emissions—which doctors use clinically in newborns. When the active process fails, hearing loss begins—reshaping the lives of billions and making them up to 500% more likely to develop dementia. Yet, the mechanism behind the active process, as well as the cause of spontaneous emissions, remains unknown.
This gap in knowledge persists due to long-standing experimental limitations: it has been impossible to preserve the active process in vitro and the available methods to study the hair cells are too slow for the frequencies of mammalian hearing. This proposal aims to overcome these barriers by leveraging two tools I developed: a photonic-pressure technique to deliver forces at previously unreachable frequencies, and a new custom bio-chamber, that preserves the elusive mammalian active process in vitro.
These will allow me to probe individual mammalian hair cells in vitro and pinpoint the precise mechanisms that underpin the active process. In parallel, I will locate the origin of spontaneous emissions to understand how single-cell mechanisms work together to orchestrate the active process in the entire ear. I anticipate immediate implications in auditory research and treatment, as I will:
1 – pinpoint the cellular mechanism that underpins hearing and its loss,
2 – reveal the origin of spontaneous emissions, enhancing their clinical relevance,
3 – develop a game-changing tool for studying the ear’s physiology in health and disease.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology dementia
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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28049 Madrid
Spain
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