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SUMMARY:&quot\;Sound encoding in the cochlea: from molecular physiology to
  optogenetic restoration&quot\; - Tobias Moser\, Professor of Auditory Neu
 roscience\, University Medical Center Gottingen\, Germany
DTSTART:20161024T153000Z
DTEND:20161024T170000Z
UID:TALK67426@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lyn Dakin
DESCRIPTION:We aim to elucidate the neural mechanisms that enable informat
 ion processing in the cochlea and early auditory pathway at rates of hundr
 eds per second over hours with submillisecond temporal precision. When hai
 r cells transduce the mechanical stimulus into an electrical signal\, volt
 age-gated Ca2+ channels open and the ensuing Ca2+ influx triggers exocytos
 is of glutamate filled vesicles at their ribbon synapses. We have elucidat
 ed an unconventional molecular composition that likely evolved to meet the
  high functional demands and explains the existence of genetic defects of 
 the hair cell synapse (auditory synaptopathy) in humans. Moreover\, we hav
 e obtained evidence for major presynaptic heterogeneity even within a give
 n hair cell and hypothesize that this enables the inner hair cell to decom
 pose auditory information into functionally distinct neuronal channels to 
 the brain. In an effort to improve hearing restoration by cochlear implant
 s work on establishing optogenetic stimulation for spatially more confined
  stimulation of the spiral ganglion.
LOCATION:The Hodgkin Huxley Seminar Room\, Department of Physiology Develo
 pment and Neuroscience
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