3d histology of the organ of Corti, cochlear nerve fibres and spiral ganglion neurons in mammalian cochlea

Here we want to image the organ of Corti (OoC), the cochlear nerve fibres and the spiral ganglion neurons in small animal models by high resolution X-ray holo-tomography with voxel sizes down to 50nm. Beyond the fundamental neuroscience of the sensory organ associated with the high resolution 3d investigation, the biomedical research associated with this proposal targets three different lines of biomedical research: (i) Age-related structural changes in the OoC, in particular loss of auditorial nerve cells and degeneration, (ii) 3d Virtual histology validating the development of optogenetic hearing restoration, (iii) hearing disorders associated with deficiencies of the protein otoferlin.