Wang Laboratory

 

Research Interests:

The lab's primary research interest is in the central consequences of hearing loss. Our understanding of what happens to the surviving auditory brainstem neurons after hearing loss is limited at synaptic, cellular and circuit levels. We know that earlier post hearing loss intervention (e.g., cochlear implantation) yields better results; some compensatory circuit reorganization, especially at the higher auditory centers (e.g., cortex) takes place after peripheral hearing loss. At the lower brainstem (eg, cochlear nucleus), where neurons are directly connected to the auditory nerve of the periphery, the picture is less clear. In the anterorventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN), bushy neurons are critically involved in the central auditory timing processing (sound localization and speech recognition). Two of the essential mechanistic components of this fine temporal coding are: 1) fast and discrete synaptic transmission via large AMPA receptor-mediated synaptic current; and 2) low membrane input resistance via ion channel expression, especially the low voltage activated K+ conductance. We study changes in synaptic and cellular mechanisms that affect temporal coding in cochlear nucleus neurons after hearing loss. We use extensive electrophysiological techniques, from single cell patch clamp to evoked auditory brainstem responses, in our studies using mice.

We also study the effect of aging on auditory timing processing in the inferior colliculus.

 

 

 

 

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