This application for a Scientist Development Award for New Minority Faculty is designed to support a period of advanced training in psychophysical and electrophysiological approaches to the study of the neural and cognitive bases of auditory learning. The candidate's recent work has focused on auditory cortical plasticity and computational models of cortico-hippocampal processing. This proposal seeks to build on this work and to develop the candidate's skills in the areas of human auditory perception, perceptual learning, and functional neurostimulation.
The specific aims of the research project are to model changes in cortical encoding that are induced by discrimination learning, and to test whether the discriminability of complex sounds can be increased through extended training or by pairing neurostimulation with the presentation of sounds. The candidate's long-term career goals are to develop an independent research program that combines computational, behavioral, and physiological methods to study the neural bases of learning and memory, and to train pre- and post-doctoral researchers. His immediate goals are to develop expertise in the design, execution, and analysis of psychophysical studies of auditory discrimination learning in humans and rodents, and to determine the effects of neurostimulation on auditory learning. The candidate will be mentored in the design and conduct of behavioral experiments that seek to (1) test the effects of auditory discrimination training on perceptual sensitivities; (2) examine how neuromodulatory systems mediate these effects; and (3) distinguish among competing quantitative theories. Training will take place at SUNY-Buffalo under the supervision of James Sawusch, with Michael Merzenich serving as a co-mentor. Dr. Sawusch has expertise in theoretical and experimental studies of auditory processing in humans, and Dr. Merzenich is a leading researcher in the area of neurostimulation as it relates to perception. The skills, training, and data obtained from this award will be used to support the candidate's development of an RO1 application.
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| Church, Barbara A; Krauss, Maria S; Lopata, Christopher et al. (2010) Atypical categorization in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Psychon Bull Rev 17:862-8 |
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| Mercado, Eduardo (2009) Cognitive Plasticity and Cortical Modules. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 18:153-158 |
| Mercado 3rd, Eduardo (2008) Neural and cognitive plasticity: from maps to minds. Psychol Bull 134:109-37 |
| Liu, Estella H; Mercado 3rd, Eduardo; Church, Barbara A et al. (2008) The easy-to-hard effect in human (Homo sapiens) and rat (Rattus norvegicus) auditory identification. J Comp Psychol 122:132-45 |
| Sun, Wei; Mercado 3rd, Eduardo; Wang, Ping et al. (2005) Changes in NMDA receptor expression in auditory cortex after learning. Neurosci Lett 374:63-8 |
| Mercado 3rd, Eduardo; Orduna, Itzel; Nowak, Jeaveen M (2005) Auditory categorization of complex sounds by rats (Rattus norvegicus). J Comp Psychol 119:90-8 |
