Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, 1417 NE 42nd St, Seattle, WA, 98105 USA; Virginia-Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center, University of Washington, 1701 NE Columbia Rd, Seattle, WA, 98195 USA.
College of Arts and Sciences, Washington State University, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Ave, Vancouver, WA 98686 USA.
Hear Res. 2023 May;432:108754. doi: 10.1016/j.heares.2023.108754. Epub 2023 Mar 30.
Historically, diverse organisms have contributed to our understanding of auditory function. In recent years, the laboratory mouse has become the prevailing non-human model in auditory research, particularly for biomedical studies. There are many questions in auditory research for which the mouse is the most appropriate (or the only) model system available. But mice cannot provide answers for all auditory problems of basic and applied importance, nor can any single model system provide a synthetic understanding of the diverse solutions that have evolved to facilitate effective detection and use of acoustic information. In this review, spurred by trends in funding and publishing and inspired by parallel observations in other domains of neuroscience, we highlight a few examples of the profound impact and lasting benefits of comparative and basic organismal research in the auditory system. We begin with the serendipitous discovery of hair cell regeneration in non-mammalian vertebrates, a finding that has fueled an ongoing search for pathways to hearing restoration in humans. We then turn to the problem of sound source localization - a fundamental task that most auditory systems have been compelled to solve despite large variation in the magnitudes and kinds of spatial acoustic cues available, begetting varied direction-detecting mechanisms. Finally, we consider the power of work in highly specialized organisms to reveal exceptional solutions to sensory problems - and the diverse returns of deep neuroethological inquiry - via the example of echolocating bats. Throughout, we consider how discoveries made possible by comparative and curiosity-driven organismal research have driven fundamental scientific, biomedical, and technological advances in the auditory field.
从历史上看，各种生物体有助于我们理解听觉功能。近年来，实验室小鼠已成为听觉研究中流行的非人类模型，特别是在生物医学研究中。在听觉研究中有许多问题，对于这些问题，小鼠是最合适的（或唯一的）模型系统。但是，小鼠不能为所有具有基本和应用重要性的听觉问题提供答案，也没有任何单一的模型系统可以综合了解为促进有效检测和利用声音信息而进化出的各种解决方案。在这篇综述中，受资助和出版趋势的推动，并受到神经科学其他领域平行观察的启发，我们强调了一些例子，说明比较和基础生物系统研究对听觉系统的深远影响和持久益处。我们从非哺乳动物脊椎动物中毛细胞再生的偶然发现开始，这一发现激发了人们对人类听力恢复途径的持续探索。然后，我们转向声源定位的问题 - 尽管可用的空间声线索的大小和种类存在很大差异，但这是大多数听觉系统都必须解决的基本任务，从而产生了各种方向检测机制。最后，我们通过回声定位蝙蝠的例子来考虑高度专业化生物体的工作的力量，以揭示对感官问题的特殊解决方案 - 以及深度神经行为学探究的多样化回报。在整个过程中，我们考虑了通过比较和好奇心驱动的生物系统研究发现如何推动听觉领域的基础科学，生物医学和技术进步。
