To mark the occasion of the creation of the Hearing Institute, an Institut Pasteur center dedicated to research into auditory neuroscience, Professor Christine Petit is organizing an inaugural scientific congress at the Collège de France on September 16 and 17, 2019, in partnership with the Fondation pour l’Audition and Inserm. This international scientific meeting will mark the birth of the Hearing Institute, which aims to promote an integrative approach to auditory neurosciences and to develop diagnostic tools and innovative curative treatments for individuals suffering from hearing loss.
Hearing loss is a decrease in auditory acuity. It may occur at any age and at many different degrees of severity. It is the most frequent sensory defect.
By depriving those affected of the social interactions intimately linked to the understanding of speech, hearing defects cause social isolation, which may be a source of major psychological suffering and is often associated with a depressive state. They also deprive the individual of an ability to appreciate and derive pleasure from music. We now know that hearing loss in adults is the most important risk factor for dementia. The elimination of such hearing loss could potentially lead to a decrease of about 10% in the number of people with dementia.
Hopes have been raised by recent major advances, at the Genetics and Physiology of Hearing laboratory at Institut Pasteur in particular. These advances have driven the creation of an institute dedicated to hearing — the Hearing Institute — a new research center of the Institut Pasteur created at the initiative of the Fondation pour l’Audition and Institut Pasteur.
“It’s very satisfying to be able to bring together the best scientific experts in the domain of hearing at the occasion of the inauguration of the Hearing Institute, and, what’s more, in a format that breaks down the persistent divisions between research on the peripheral auditory system (the cochlea, the auditory sensory organ and its innervation) and research on brain auditory centers. It will also be an opportunity for exchanges with our colleagues studying other sensory systems, a necessity if we are to understand the properties common to different sensory systems (particularly their mechanisms of plasticity) and how different types of sensory information are integrated to deliver a unique perception. It will also allow us to highlight the pertinence of continuous interactions between basic and medical research, and of continually comparing the findings of research on humans and animals. These exchanges are essential for the development of authentic diagnostic and therapeutic innovation for hearing defects. This inaugural congress thus reflects the active interdisciplinarity at the heart of the Hearing Institute project. Finally, a source of great pleasure, this congress has made it possible to bring our friends together; the creation of the Hearing Institute owes much to their enthusiastic support.” explains Professor Christine Petit, Director of the Genetics and Physiology of Hearing mixed research unit of the Institut Pasteur and Inserm, member of the French and American Academies of Science, Professor at Collège de France and the first Director of the Hearing Institute.
Find this information file below and download it. This information file goes over the creation of this center of excellence in research and the latest advances in hearing research at the Institut Pasteur.
