Cellular Mechanisms of Auditory Information Processing

Basic Studies:
Our laboratory is interested in the mechanisms that the nervous system uses to process sensory information. For example, what makes auditory neurons uniquely suited to the information processing tasks that they must accomplish? What kinds of synaptic and ionic mechanisms normally operate, and what kinds of plasticity are present in the system?

Translational studies:
We recently have begun studying the effects of different forms of deafness on central auditory processing mechanisms. Cells in the nervous system sense their inputs and their own activity, and can respond by changing the proteins that they make and use. These changes in turn redefine how auditory information is processed. Decreases in activity due to hearing loss have been shown to affect synaptic function and the expression of ion channels as well as neurotransmitter receptors. These specific changes affect both how information is represented in spike trains, and how the networks of neurons operate.

A new line of research is aimed at elucidating cellular mechanisms that might give rise to tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Tinnitus may arise from changes in the auditory periphery, but much tinnitus is now thought to depend on changes in the central nervous system. What are these changes and how do they give rise to an auditory percept?

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