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Our laboratories are actively involved in studies of both hearing and smell. Current research projects in our auditory laboratories are concerned with the peripheral physiological and neural mechanisms underlying simple perceptual phenomena. These interests can be sub-divided into studies of the role of the descending, or olivocochlear efferent, neural system in auditory perception and perception resulting from electrical activation of the auditory system through a cochlear implant, or bionic ear. The efferent system descends from several areas of the mammalian brainstem to synapse on and influence the response of the outer hair cell receptors of the cochlea. Our work, using psychophysical and physiological measures in human and non-human listeners, characterizes the influence of this system on the perception of transient signals in noise and on selective auditory attention. Our research with the cochlear implant seeks to characterize the effects of electrode design, electrode contact placement, contact configuration and neural survival on psychophysical and physiological measures of implant performance in non-human subjects. Our new olfactory laboratory is concerned with studies of olfactory receptor neuron transduction mechanisms. The laboratory employs operant olfactometers to characterize olfactory perception in behaviorally-trained, genetically manipulated mice.
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