PREDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM (DISABILITY)

本论文旨在阐明耳蜗核（CN）和下丘中央核（CNIC）内听觉神经元的功能。 理解功能的第一步是找出神经元对什么刺激做出反应，理想情况下没有先验假设。 因此，目的1是开发一种方法来估计单听觉神经元的频谱时间加权函数（STWF）与伪随机噪声刺激。STWF，或神经元在某些时间和频率分配给声能的权重，可以直接应用于预测对任意刺激的线性或接近线性的神经反应。 目的2是估计去大脑猫CN神经元的STWF，并使用局部注射阻断抑制性输入的药物来确定这些STWF是如何通过抑制形成的。 目的3是扩展的方法，包括双耳spectrotemporal的相互作用时，估计在CNIC的去脑猫。在一起，这些目标的实验将增加对CN和CNIC的电路和功能的理解，并反过来建议听力障碍和其他听觉障碍如何影响语音和其他复杂的声音的处理。

The goal of this thesis proposal is to elucidate the function of auditory neurons in the cochlear nucleus (CN) and central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (CNIC). A first step toward understanding function is to find out what stimuli the neuron responds to, ideally without a priori assumptions. Thus, Aim 1 is to develop a method for estimating the spectrotemporal weighting functions (STWFs) of single auditory neurons with pseudorandom noise stimuli. The STWF, or weights that a neuron assigns to sound energy at certain times and frequencies, can be directly applied to predict linear, or nearly linear, neural responses to arbitrary stimuli. Aim 2 is to estimate the STWFs of neurons in the CN of the decerebrate cat, and use local injection of agents that block inhibitory inputs to determine how these STWFs are shaped by inhibition. Aim 3 is to extend the method to include binaural spectrotemporal interactions when estimating weighting functions in the CNIC of the decerebrate cat. Together, experiments of these aims will increase understanding of circuitry and function in the CN and CNIC, and will in turn suggest how hearing impairment and other auditory disorders affect processing of speech and other complex sounds.