Learning to Encode Timing: Mechanisms of Plasticity in the Auditory Brainstem

Thanos Tzounopoulos*, Nina Kraus

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalShort surveypeer-review

134 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mechanisms of plasticity have traditionally been ascribed to higher-order sensory processing areas such as the cortex, whereas early sensory processing centers have been considered largely hard-wired. In agreement with this view, the auditory brainstem has been viewed as a nonplastic site, important for preserving temporal information and minimizing transmission delays. However, recent groundbreaking results from animal models and human studies have revealed remarkable evidence for cellular and behavioral mechanisms for learning and memory in the auditory brainstem.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)463-469
Number of pages7
JournalNeuron
Volume62
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - May 28 2009

Funding

We thank Dr. Donata Oertel, Dr. Karl Kandler, Dr. Bharath Chandrasekaran, Trent Nicol, and Maria A. Tsiarli for many helpful discussions and for critical reading of the manuscript. We also thank Dylan Lukes and Erika Skoe for help in making the figures. This work was supported by NIH/NIDCD grants R01 (DC007905 to T.T. and DC001510 to N.K.), by a grant from the American Tinnitus Association to T.T., and by an NSF grant (0544846 to N.K.).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

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