Development of the Inner Ear

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of compreh- sive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modern auditory - search. The volumes are aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators. The volumes are intended to introduce new investigators to important aspects of hearing science and to help established investigators to betterunderstandthefundamentaltheoriesanddatain?eldsofhearingthatthey may not normally follow closely. Each volume presents a particular topic comprehensively, and each servesas a synthetic overview and guide to the literature. As such, the chapters present neither exhaustive data reviews nor original research that has not yet appeared in peer-reviewed journals. The volumes focus on topics that have developed a solid data and conceptual foundation rather than on those for which a literature is only beginning to develop. New research areas will be covered on a timely basis in the series as they begin to mature. Eachvolumeintheseriesconsistsofafewsubstantialchaptersonaparticular topic. In some cases, the topics will be ones of traditional interest for which there is a substantial body of data and theory, such as auditory neuroanatomy (Vol. 1) and neurophysiology (Vol. 2). Other volumes in the series deal with topics that have begun to mature more recently, suchasdevelopment,plasticity, and computational models of neural processing. In many cases, the series - itorsarejoinedbyaco-editorhavingspecialexpertiseinthetopicofthevolume.

This book describes the embryonic development of the vertebrate inner ear in six chapters that span all aspects of inner ear development, from the induction of the otic placode through cellular morphogenesis, to the onset of auditory function. In each chapter, a particular aspect of development of the inner ear is examined in terms of both classic embryologic experiments and more recent advances using molecular biological techniques. The publication of this volume is particularly timely in light of recent significant advances in molecular biological and cellular imaging techniques. These changes have led to an explosion in the pace of developmental inner ear research that is clearly reflected in the chapters presented here. The book will serve as a useful resource for scientists who study inner ear biology, as well as developmental biologists who work in other systems, but have an interest in an overview of the developing ear. This book will also be a valuable resource for clinicians who wish to know more about the development of the ear and about the genetic and molecular factors that regulate its formation.

Matthew Kelley and Doris Wu are both Investigators at the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Arthur N. Popper is Professor in the Department of Biology and Co-Director of the Center for Comparative and Evolutionary Biology of Hearing at the University of Maryland, College Park. Richard R. Fay is Director of the Parmly Hearing Institute and Professor of Psychology at Loyola University of Chicago.