Summary
This research project aims to investigate the dendritic mechanisms underlying behaviorally-relevant activity in the descending auditory pathway from the auditory cortex to the inferior colliculus in behaving mice.
Dendritic Mechanisms Underlying Behaviorally-Relevant Activity in a Descending Auditory Pathway
US · IL
NIH
grant
awarded
#nih-5R01DC019090-05
What they want
The project will address knowledge gaps regarding the function of descending auditory cortical neurons in attentive listening and the biophysical mechanisms dictating their contribution to central auditory processing. It will test hypotheses that auditory cortico-collicular neurons encode learned information, amplifying behaviorally relevant sound features, and that non-linear generation of dendritic spikes is a key underlying mechanism.
Deliverables
- Establish functional and mechanistic answers for the operation of a descending auditory cortical pathway during attentive listening
Technical requirements
- Sub-cellular 2-photon Ca2+ imaging
- Optogenetics
- Behavioral assays in awake, head-fixed mice
