Inner ear dysfunction such as hearing loss and balance disorders remain a major health problem and economic burden in the world. This is in part a consequence of our limited understanding of the inner ear biology. Understanding the cellular and molecular events that control physiological and pathophysiological processes provide solid foundation for the development and advancement of treatment strategies. However, to achieve this, it is critical to use proper techniques and methods with high reproducibility.

This collection will focus on established methods and new promising advancements in current methods within the field of inner ear biology. Multiple animals models are routinely used to better understand the molecular, cellular and physiological processes in the inner ear. Hearing physiology assessment is commonly performed using auditory brainstem response (ABR), distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE), central auditory processing (CAP) and endocochlear potential (EP). Recently, a relatively new vestibular function test called vestibular myogenic evoked potential (VEMP) is performed to study balance/equilibrium in model organisms. However, lack of constancy in genetic background of model organisms, data collection procedure analysis and interpretation of the data brings variability in the reported outcomes. The inner ear end organs (Cochlea and vestibule) cultures,1 whole mount and tissue sections provide additional tools to study different cellular or subcellular compartments within the end organs to obtain better insights about the molecular and cellular events associated with inner ear function. However, there are differences in the conditions used by different labs and it is unclear how much this differences contributes to the outcome of various experiments.

Therefore, the goal of this collection is to provide standardized methods to better study the inner ear function. This collection will provide a platform for multiple approaches currently used towards studying inner ear biology and to establish a unifying procedure for these methods.