SPECIFIC AIMS We request funds to support an annual symposium entitled Advances and Perspectives in Auditory Neurophysiology (APAN;www.apan.jhu.edu/) that will be a one-day satellite event at the annual Society for Neuroscience (SFN) conference. The symposium aims to attract the best work in auditory neurophysiology from scientists working with human and non-human models of audition with an emphasis on data collected from awake, behaving subjects. In particular, the organizers of the APAN meeting are interested in attracting scientists (especially young scientists) studying the neural correlates (both cortical and sub-cortical) of auditory behavior including the perceptual, cognitive, and sensorimotor factors that underlie communication processing, multi-sensory processing, and neural plasticity. A meeting of this cohort of investigators is critical since this field of research can illuminate principles of auditory function in ways that other preparations cannot. Moreover, many of the theoretical approaches, techniques, and methodologies of this research field are relatively unique and not shared by other hearing researchers. Consequently, a focused symposium will facilitate and spur growth in this important research area.
