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NACS Seminar: Gregg Recanzone (UC Davis)

NACS Seminar: Gregg Recanzone (UC Davis)

Maryland Language Science Center Friday, September 21, 2018 10:15 am Bioscience Research Building, 1103


Title: Listening with an aging brain

Abstract: Age-related hearing loss affects over half of the elderly population, yet it remains poorly understood. Natural aging can cause the input to the brain from the cochlea to be progressively compromised in most individuals, but in many cases the cochlea has relatively normal sensitivity and yet people have an increasingly difficult time processing complex auditory stimuli. The two main deficits are in sound localization and temporal processing, which lead to poor speech perception.  Animal models have shown that there are multiple changes in the brainstem, midbrain, and thalamic auditory areas as a function of age, giving rise to an alteration in the excitatory/inhibitory balance of these neurons. This alteration is manifest in the cerebral cortex as higher spontaneous and driven firing rates, as well as broader spatial and temporal tuning. These alterations in cortical responses could underlie the hearing and speech processing deficits that are common in the aged population. 

Full NACS seminar schedule available here: http://www.nacs.umd.edu/activities/nacs-seminars

Add to Calendar 09/21/18 10:15 AM 09/21/18 10:15 AM America/New_York NACS Seminar: Gregg Recanzone (UC Davis)


Title: Listening with an aging brain

Abstract: Age-related hearing loss affects over half of the elderly population, yet it remains poorly understood. Natural aging can cause the input to the brain from the cochlea to be progressively compromised in most individuals, but in many cases the cochlea has relatively normal sensitivity and yet people have an increasingly difficult time processing complex auditory stimuli. The two main deficits are in sound localization and temporal processing, which lead to poor speech perception.  Animal models have shown that there are multiple changes in the brainstem, midbrain, and thalamic auditory areas as a function of age, giving rise to an alteration in the excitatory/inhibitory balance of these neurons. This alteration is manifest in the cerebral cortex as higher spontaneous and driven firing rates, as well as broader spatial and temporal tuning. These alterations in cortical responses could underlie the hearing and speech processing deficits that are common in the aged population. 

Full NACS seminar schedule available here: http://www.nacs.umd.edu/activities/nacs-seminars

Bioscience Research Building