2010 Auditory System and GRS Conference, Symposia & Workshops -Auditory System @ Colby-Sawyer College 6-13-18-2010 & Second Graduate Research Seminar 6-12-13-2010 in New Lo

听到和理解复杂声音刺激的能力依赖于组织严密的神经元网络，这些网络具有特殊的特性，能够在广泛的强度和频率范围内快速检测和感知声音。听觉始于内耳中对机械敏感的毛细胞对声音的探测。这些信息被编码，并通过螺旋神经节忠实地传递到中枢神经系统。随后，一系列处理事件在听觉脑干中平行发生，再次汇聚在下丘。下丘投射到听觉丘脑，然后投射到听觉皮层，这是声音感知的地方。大多数听觉研究小组专注于听觉处理的离散元素，如毛细胞功能或听觉神经元的电生理特性。然而，对声音的感知归根结底是所有这些独立事件的产物，其中许多相互影响。听觉回路的任何一个层面的故障都会对整个系统产生影响，特别是在发育过程中，因为可塑性机制可能会导致连线发生永久性变化。对这些问题的研究是第二届戈登听觉系统研究会议的目标，该会议将于2010年6月13日至18日在科尔比-索耶学院举行，并将于2010年6月12日至13日举行第二次相关研究生研究研讨会。该奖项为研究生和博士后研究员提供了参加这些活动的支持，这将提供一个丰富的培训环境，并促进对各级听觉回路组装和功能的了解。

The ability to hear and understand complex sound stimuli depends on precisely organized networks of neurons with specialized properties that enable detection and perception of sounds quickly and over a wide range of intensities and frequencies. Hearing begins with the detection of sound by mechanosensitive hair cells in the inner ear. This information is encoded and faithfully transmitted to the central nervous system by the spiral ganglion. Subsequently, a series of processing events occur in parallel in the auditory brainstem, converging once again in the inferior colliculus. The inferior colliculus projects to the auditory thalamus and on to the auditory cortex, which is the seat of sound perception. Most auditory research groups focus on discrete elements of auditory processing, such as hair cell function or the electrophysiological properties of auditory neurons. However, the perception of sound is ultimately a product of all of these independent events, many of which influence each other. A failure at any level of the auditory circuitry has ramifications for the entire system, especially during development when mechanisms of plasticity can induce permanent changes in wiring. The study of these issues is the goal of the second biennial Gordon Research Conference on The Auditory System, which will take place at Colby-Sawyer College from June 13-18, 2010 and will be preceded by the second associated Graduate Research Seminar on June 12-13, 2010. This award provides support for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to attend these events, which will provide a rich training environment and advance the understanding of auditory circuit assembly and function at all levels.