Dan H Sanes

Development and plasticity of the auditory system; Developmental hearing loss; 

Cortical encoding of auditory perceptual skills.

Although most synaptic connections within the brain have formed accurately by the time animals begin to hear, their precise number and strength remain malleable. It is this phase of development - the time during which auditory networks are susceptible to the sound environment - that engages our research program. In fact, despite enormous advances in our understanding of the growth and formation of the nervous system, we know little about the function of developing networks or the computations they perform.

Our lab studies the development and function of brain circuits that encode auditory cues, and the emergence of adult perceptual skills. At the cellular level, we explore how early auditory experience influences the development of inhibitory synapses in the central auditory neuraxis and, more recently, in areas downstream from auditory cortex. At the systems level, we ask how auditory experience influences the maturation of auditory perception, and the cortical properties that support these skills. Ultimately, we seek to understand how the development and plasticity of synaptic and membrane properties permit networks to properly encode auditory cues, thereby supporting adult perceptual skills.