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

超快的信号和精确到微秒范围的极高的时间精度是听觉系统的标志，这使它有别于几乎任何其他感官系统。这一优先方案的目的是确定和分析外周和中央听觉系统中的机制，这些机制能够在时间上进行精确的信息处理。将解决听力正常和功能障碍的问题，将基础研究和以疾病为导向的研究联系起来。虽然以中耳为基础的听力损失可以得到很好的治疗，但对于影响耳蜗和/或听神经的感音神经性听力损失，没有对症治疗。此外，助听器以及人工耳蜗和脑干植入物的康复只有部分效果。虽然这些听力设备最好地实现了在安静的情况下的语音理解，但听觉信号的时间方面没有得到很好的处理，导致语音识别受损，在区分有意义的声音和背景噪声方面存在问题，并且在声音定位方面存在严重问题。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。到目前为止，这种声音处理障碍的确切原因尚不清楚。此外，其功能障碍导致暂时性听觉处理障碍的机制--无论是在耳蜗、听神经还是大脑--还没有确定。因此，如果我们想要开发有效的听力障碍治疗策略，那么更好地理解超快信号的(病理)生理学和时间上精确的信息处理是必不可少的。其目标是高精度地全面了解超快听觉处理的基本机制，目的是从根本上改善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，我们的优先方案将联系生理学、解剖学、人类和小鼠遗传学、计算神经科学和行为研究方面的知名和年轻研究人员，他们迄今还没有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.