The focus of the lab is on cellular mechanisms of information processing in the auditory system. We work in the auditory brainstem (cochlear nucleus), where it is possible to relate the acoustic responses of individual classes of cells to their expression and utilization of specific cellular mechanisms, and to the organization of the synaptic networks that surround them. We also work in the auditory cortex, where the network organization is more complex, but where mechanisms such as synaptic plasticity play crucial roles in determining their responses.
Our long term goals are to understand how individual neurons and networks of neurons process sensory information. To this end, we use a variety of methods to assay different aspects of neural function and circuits.