Much of the hospital's success in identifying and treating children with hearing loss is the result of the rapid transfer of research findings from laboratories to clinic and bedside.

Areas of Research - Neurobiological Studies of Hearing

The research programs in this area represent a multidisciplinary effort to achieve a better understanding of peripheral and central processes in the auditory and vestibular systems. Work at this level is essential if we are to understand the causes of hearing loss and vestibular disorders, with the ultimate goal of prevention and treatment. Currently, the individual research programs in this area include:

• Neurochemistry
• Developmental Auditory Physiology
• Communication Engineering

These individual programs focus on the neuroanatomy of the efferent portion of the auditory system that transmits information from the brainstem to sensory cells and afferent dendrites in the inner ear; neurochemical studies of synaptic transmission within the cochlea and central auditory system; the physiology of epithelial and sensory cells at a cellular and subcellular level; developmental changes in physiological function at multiple levels within the auditory system; the coding of information concerning complex sounds in individual auditory neurons; and mathematical modeling of the mechanical processes of the inner ear.

Studies of the anatomy, physiology, and neurochemistry of the olivocochlear efferent system, funded by a program-project grant, provide an example of the multidisciplinary, collaborative work within this group.

There also are many interactions with other groups, including functional studies of genetically altered mice and use of advanced signal processing techniques in the analysis of evoked potential waveforms.