SPP 1608: Ultrafast and Temporally Precise Information Processing: Normal and Dysfunctional Hearing

超快的信号传递和精确到微秒的时间精度是听觉系统区别于几乎任何其他感觉系统的标志。本优先计划的目的是识别和分析外围和中央听觉系统中的机制，这些机制能够实现暂时精确的信息处理。将讨论正常和不正常的听力，将基础研究和疾病研究联系起来。虽然中耳性听力损失可以很好地治疗，但对于影响耳蜗和/或听神经的感觉神经性听力损失没有任何治疗方法。此外，通过助听器以及人工耳蜗和脑干植入的康复只是部分有效。虽然这些助听器在安静的环境下能够最好地理解语音，但听觉信号的时间方面没有得到很好的处理，导致语音识别障碍，难以从背景噪音中区分有意义的声音，以及声音定位方面的严重问题。时间处理的缺陷也可以由中央听觉系统的结构和功能异常引起，例如脑干中的各种中继站。这种声音处理障碍的确切原因目前尚不清楚。此外，其功能障碍导致时间听觉处理障碍的机制-无论是在耳蜗，听神经还是大脑-尚未确定。因此，如果我们想要制定有效的听力障碍治疗策略，更好地了解超快信号和时间精确信息处理的（病理）生理学是必不可少的。目标是获得高精度超快速听觉处理机制的全面知识，旨在从根本上提高对听力障碍原因的理解，并为更好的治疗提供工具。为了实现这一目标，我们的优先计划将联合生理学、解剖学、人类和小鼠遗传学、计算神经科学和行为研究领域的知名和年轻研究人员，这些研究人员迄今尚未参加过这样的联合倡议。

Ultrafast signalling and an exquisitely high temporal precision down to the microsecond range are the hallmarks of the auditory system that set it apart from virtually any other sensory system. The aim of this Priority Programme is to identify and analyse the mechanisms in the peripheral and central auditory systems, which enable temporally precise information processing. Both normal and dysfunctional hearing will be addressed, linking basic and disease-oriented research. Whereas middle ear-based hearing loss can be treated well, there is no causative treatment for sensorineural hearing loss affecting the cochlea and/or the auditory nerve. Moreover, rehabilitation by hearing aids as well as cochlear and brainstem implants is only partially effective. Although these hearing devices best enable speech comprehension in the quiet, temporal aspects of the auditory signals are not well processed, leading to speech recognition impairment, problems in distinguishing meaningful sounds from background noise, and severe problems in sound localisation. Deficits in temporal processing can also result from structural and functional abnormalities in the central auditory system, such as the various relay stations in the brainstem. The exact causes of such sound-processing impairments are unknown so far. Also, the mechanisms whose dysfunction leads to temporal auditory processing disorders - be it in the cochlea, the auditory nerve or the brain - have not been identified. Therefore, a better understanding of the (patho)-physiology of ultrafast signalling and temporally precise information processing is indispensible if we want to develop effective treatment strategies for hearing disorders. The goal is to obtain a comprehensive knowledge of the mechanisms underlying ultrafast auditory processing with high precision, with the aims of achieving a fundamentally improved understanding of the causes of hearing disorders and tools for better therapeutic treatment. To achieve this goal, our Priority Programme will network renowned and young researchers in physiology, anatomy, human and mouse genetics, computational neuroscience, and behavioural studies, who, so far, have not participated in such a joint initiative.