Seminars in Hearing Research at Purdue (SHRP)

Date: April 18, 2019
Time: 12:30- 1:30 PM
Location: LYLE 1150

Presenter: Hari Bharadwaj (SLHS/BME) & Kelsey Dougherty (SLHS)

Title: Characterizing "central gain" following reduced peripheral drive in the human auditory system

Abstract: The nervous system is known to adapt in many ways to changes in the statistics of the inputs it receives. A prominent example of such brain plasticity that is observed in animal models is that central auditory neurons tend to retain their firing rate outputs at roughly a constant level despite reductions in peripheral input due to hearing loss. This "central gain" is thought to come about by down-regulation of inhibitory neurotransmission. Pathological versions of such central gain are thought to underlie disorders such as tinnitus and hyperacusis. Separately, animal models of aging also show down-regulation of inhibition throughout the auditory system -- the extent to which peripheral loss contributes to such age-related changes is unknown. This presentation will describe the approach taken by our lab to characterize central gain in humans, including tinnitus sufferers, using EEG and perceptual experiments. Preliminary results will be presented with a goal of obtaining unvarnished feedback.

The working schedule for this semester is here:

https://purdue.edu/TPAN/hearing/shrp_schedule

The titles and abstracts of the talks will be updated here:

https://purdue.edu/TPAN/hearing/shrp_abstracts