A Collège de France - CNED coproduction
Abstract
The physiology of the auditory system, and in particular that of the first relays in sound signal processing, is fairly well understood. In the early 1990s, however, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this physiology had yet to be fully characterized. The genetic approach proposed by Professor Christine Petit's laboratory has made it possible to begin deciphering them. This research, backed by the identification of genes whose damage is responsible for early forms of deafness in humans, is developing in the form of multidisciplinary studies. It sheds light on the molecular basis of the formation and function of the auditory sensory organ, and in particular of its sensory cells, as well as on the pathogenesis of a wide range of hereditary deafnesses in young subjects. It has also led to the discovery of new physiological properties of the auditory system. Her research has recently been extended to elucidating the pathogenesis of presbycusis, an age-related sensorineural deafness, and a therapeutic approach to Usher syndrome. Christine Petit's lectures focus on the auditory system, its functioning and dysfunctions.
