STUDIES OF THE COCHLEAR NUCLEUS GRANULE CELL DOMAIN

描述：（改编自研究者摘要）我们的长期目标是 来理解听觉的神经机制所有声学 来自环境的信息通过听觉神经进入大脑， 耳蜗核突触耳蜗核又产生 上升通道对声音的感知通常归因于 通过这些上升途径处理，但数据正在积累刺激， 环境也起着重要作用。也就是说，一个声音的意义不取决于 不仅对光谱和时间特征，而且对过去的历史， 动物的行为状态。可以提供这种上下文信息 通过听觉通路和神经系统的下行， “听觉。“在这个应用程序中，我们计划研究这些之间的接口， 上升和下降系统。 我们认为耳蜗核的颗粒细胞域代表了一种 多模态影响整合的关键站点。初步数据显示， 除了下行听觉投射，还有躯体感觉， 前庭和运动输入到颗粒细胞域。对于本 应用，我们将应用顺行和逆行追踪方法， 识别这些神经元及其回路，免疫细胞化学染色 揭示不同神经元的化学成分及其 终端和电生理记录技术，以表征 投射到该区域的神经元的响应特性。从这个数据 研究将提供有关高度的同步组织的新知识， 听觉系统中的整合结构，并深入了解如何 不同的神经系统塑造了听觉的编码过程。

DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from the Investigator's Abstract) Our long-term goal is to understand neuronal mechanisms that underlie hearing. All acoustic information from the environment enters the brain via the auditory nerve and synpases in the cochlear nucleus. The cochlear nucleus in turn gives rise to the ascending pathways. The perception of sound is normally attributed to processing by these ascending pathways, but data are accumulating that stimulus context also plays a major role. That is, the meaning of a sound depends not only on spectral and temporal characteristics, but also on the past history and behavioral state of the animal. This contextual information could be provided by descending auditory pathways and neural systems not traditionally considered "auditory." In this application, we plan to study the interface between these ascending and descending systems. We propose that the granule cell domain of the cochlear nucleus represents a key site for the integration of multimodal influences. Preliminary data reveal that, in addition to descending auditory projections, there are somatosensory, vestibular and motor inputs to the granular cell domain. For the present application, we will apply anterograde and retrograde tract tracing methods to identify these neurons and their circuits, immunocytochemical staining procedures to reveal the chemistry of the different neurons and their terminals, and electrophysiological recording techniques to characterize the response properties of neurons projecting to this region. The data from this research will provide new knowledge on the synpatic organization of the highly integrative structure in the auditory system, and yield insights into how diverse neural systems shape the coding process for hearing.