Project Details
Projekt
Peripheral auditory processing: Mechanisms, Genes, and Age
Applicant
Professor Dr. Martin Göpfert
Subject Area
Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
Term
from 2015 to 2019
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 279585606
Peripheral auditory processing mechanisms ensure the exquisite speed, sensitivity, and frequency selectivity of hearing: sound-induced vibrations gate auditory transduction channels virtually instantaneously, and sensitivity and frequency-selectivity are actively enhanced by mechanical amplification, which arises from motile properties of auditory sensory cells. Profiting from experimental advantages of the ears of insects, this project aims to dissect how this peripheral processing is accomplished and maintained: (i) rat prestin knock-in Drosophila will be used to dissect the interplay between prestin- and transducer- based mechanical amplification, and (ii) the impact of efferent control mechanisms on auditory sensory cell function will be explored. We further will (iii) study progressive deteriorations in auditory sensory cell function, and identify genetic causes of age-dependent hearing loss. In addition to contributing fly genetics to the consortium, this project promises insights into fundamental auditory processing mechanisms, their genetic basis, and their evolution and dis-function.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
