Research in the auditory and vestibular systems. The recommendations of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders National Strategic Research Plan.

Promising fundamental research opportunities identified by the National Strategic Research Plan of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders include encoding of sound and gravitational/acceleration force by the inner ear, processing complex signals in the central nervous system, the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for hair cell motility, mechanoelectric transduction, homeostasis and metabolism of the inner ear, synaptic transmission, hair cell regeneration, plasticity and otoacoustic emissions. Clinical research opportunities include the molecular genetics of hereditary hearing impairment, the etiology of sensorineural hearing loss, environmental ototoxicity, the elucidation of tinnitus, the development of vaccines against otitis media, pharmacotherapy, rehabilitation for hearing loss and deafness with hearing aids and cochlear implants and physical therapy rehabilitation for vestibular disorders.