US-German Research Proposal: Collaborative Research: Field Potentials in the Auditory System

该项目的目标是提供一个更好的理解是什么神经过程构成从大脑记录的细胞外电位，如脑电图（EEG）。虽然在许多情况下记录，这些潜力是知之甚少。 然而，它们在临床上很重要;例如，它们用于诊断癫痫和早期发现耳聋。鉴别诊断工具的发展取决于了解哪些大脑成分对记录的电位有贡献。研究人员使用定量建模和仓鸮听觉系统的记录相结合，以深入了解场电位与其神经元发生器之间的联系。 除了更好地了解广泛使用的诊断工具外，该项目的另一个社会相关成果是在科学、技术、工程和数学方面对妇女进行培训。美国和德国实验室在这项国际合作中对科学教育有着坚定的承诺，并在培训研究人员以及来自不同背景的高中生和本科生方面有着良好的记录。细胞外场电位通常由各种神经源产生，使得它们的解释变得困难。然而，它们在临床上很重要，应用范围从诊断到脑机接口。例如，在听觉系统中，听觉诱发电位，也称为听觉脑干反应（ABR），被广泛用于新生儿听力筛查，但对特定核团如何对其结构做出贡献知之甚少。受理解细胞外场电位的临床相关性和理论重要性的启发，国际团队在鸟类模型系统中应用了细胞外场电位的计算和神经生理学研究。靶向神经结构，即仓鸮的层间核，是均匀的，组织良好，并允许直接进入具有大胞外场电位的系统。研究者的模型和实验描绘了胞外场电位的三种可能来源的潜在贡献。该方法紧密结合了理论和实验，提供了一个基本的理解细胞外场电位和它们的神经元发电机之间的连接。这项跨学科合作的结果将为临床相关ABR的解释提供基础。德国教育和研究部（BMBF）正在资助一个配套项目。

The goal of the project is to provide a better understanding of what neural processes make up extracellular potentials recorded from brain, like the electroencephalogram (EEG). Although recorded in many settings, these potentials are poorly understood. Yet, they are clinically important; for instance, they are used for diagnosis of epilepsy and early detection of deafness. Development of differential diagnostic tools depends on understanding what brain components contribute to the recorded potentials. The investigators use a combination of quantitative modeling and recordings from the auditory system of the Barn Owl to gain insight into the connection between field potentials and their neuronal generators. In addition to better understanding of a widely used diagnostic tool, a further societally relevant outcome of the project lies in training women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The U.S. and the German laboratories in this international collaboration have a strong commitment to science education and a well-established track record of training research fellows, as well as high school students and undergraduates from diverse backgrounds. Extracellular field potentials are typically generated by various neuronal sources, making their interpretation difficult. They are, however, clinically important, with applications ranging from diagnostics to brain-computer interfaces. In the auditory system, for example, the auditory evoked potential, also called the auditory brainstem response (ABR) is widely used for newborn hearing screening but little is known how specific nuclei contribute to it structure. Motivated by clinical relevance and theoretical importance of understanding extracellular field potentials, the international team applies a combined computational and neurophysiological investigation of the extracellular field potential in a bird model system. The targeted neural structure, the Nucleus Laminaris in the Barn Owl, is homogeneous and well organized, and allows direct access to a system with a large extracellular field potential. The investigators' models and experiments delineate the potential contributions of the three possible sources of the extracellular field potentials. The approach tightly integrates theory and experiments, to provide a fundamental understanding of the connection between the extracellular field potentials and their neuronal generators. The results from this collaborative cross-disciplinary effort will provide a basis for the interpretation of the clinically relevant ABR. A companion project is being funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).