Speaker: Professor Stephen Lomber
Date: Monday 11 December
Time: 10.00am – 11.30am
Location: Australian Hearing Hub, Level 1, Lecture Theatre
Agenda:
10.00am – 10.05am – Welcome
10.05am – 10.45am – Presentation
10.45am – 11.00am – Q & A
11.00am – 11.30am – Networking & Refreshments
Abstract:
Cortical plasticity is the neural mechanism by which the cerebrum adapts itself to its environment, while at the same time making it vulnerable to impoverished sensory or developmental experiences. Like the visual system, auditory development passes through a series of sensitive periods in which circuits and connections are established and then refined by experience. During these periods, the functional maturation of auditory processing and perception is critically dependent on adequate auditory experience. Unfortunately, in cases of sensory deprivation, such as congenital deafness, this process is arrested. Fortunately, it appears that this situation can be reversed in individuals that receive cochlear prosthetics.
Current research is expanding our understanding of cerebral processing and organization in the deaf. In the congenitally deaf, higher-order areas of “deaf” auditory cortex demonstrate significant crossmodal plasticity with neurons responding to visual and somatosensory stimuli. This crucial cerebral function results in adaptive, compensatory plasticity. Not only can the remaining inputs reorganize to substitute for those lost, but this additional circuitry also confers enhanced abilities to the remaining systems. In this presentation, we will review our present understanding of the structure and function of “deaf” auditory cortex using psychophysical, electrophysiological, and connectional anatomy approaches and consider how this knowledge informs our expectations of the capabilities of cochlear implants in the developing brain.
Biography:
Stephen G. Lomber, Ph.D. is a Professor of Physiology, Psychology, and Neuroscience at the University of Western Ontario (Canada) where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Brain Plasticity and Development. Dr. Lomber holds degrees in Neurobiology from the University of Rochester (B.Sc.) and the Boston University School of Medicine (Ph.D.). Dr. Lomber directs the Cerebral Systems Laboratory (www.cerebralsystems.ca) and is a Principal Investigator in the Canadian National Centre for Audiology and the Brain and Mind Institute. Dr. Lomber’s lab uses an integrated approach of psychophysics, electrophysiological recording, neuroanatomical techniques, and functional imaging to examine processing in the auditory cortex. The lab has pioneered the use of focal cooling to reversibly deactivate regions of the cerebrum. Work in his lab examines cortical plasticity in the presence and absence of acoustic input, and following the initiation of auditory processing through the means of cochlear prosthetics.
Who should come: hearing, speech and language researchers and clinicians, cognitive scientists, psychologists, researchers in aging health and health care professionals.
Network: Learn from one another and see what collaboration opportunities are available.
Registration: Entry is free and open to the public. Please register by Wednesday 6 December 2017 to louise.dodd@mq.edu.au