Washington, DC’s Carnegie Institution for Science is holding a virtual program about “biological hearing aid” on June 24.
Dr. Jim Hudspeth, Director of F. M. Kirby Center for Sensory Neuroscience at the Rockefeller University, will discuss the ear’s operation and efforts to restore hearing by regenerating hair cells. He will then join Emmy Award-winning journalist Frank Sesno, Director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, to talk about his life and work.
“Hearing is the gateway to verbal communication. It commences with the capture of sound energy by the ear’s sensory receptors, called hair cells, which convert that energy into electrical signals that the brain can interpret,” the event brief says.
“Unique among our sensory receptors, the hair cell is not a passive recipient of stimuli, but instead uses an active process to enhance the input it receives— amplifying acoustical stimuli, sharpening frequency selectivity, and broadening the range of audible sounds. When this active process becomes unstable, most ears can even emit sound!”
The Kavli Foundation, the Royal Embassy of Norway, and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters will be co-hosting the event together with the Carnegie Institution for Science.
This lecture will be streamed live on the institution’s website and its Facebook page, as well as recorded for on-demand viewing after the lecture.