This research proposal aims to uncover how the auditory system codes rate as a feature of acoustic communication. Understanding human speech requires judgments based on rapid temporal intervals. A detailed consideration of how temporal processing detects linguistic contrasts will be important to understanding many disorders of language including dysphasia and dyslexia. Xenopus laevis provides a tractable model organism for this objective because of its rich repertoire of vocalizations that vary in the rate of repeated clicks. Tests of behavioral psychophysics will determine whether male clawed frogs categorically perceive the two female calls that differ only in click rate: one call signifies sexual receptivity of the female and stimulates male calling, whereas the other call functions as an antiaphrodisiac that suppresses male calling. Electrophysiological recording in the auditory midbrain and medulla will reveal whether cells are rate-tuned, and whether they form a spatial map of rate. Finally, neuroanatomical tracing will outline the construction of rate-sensitive auditory circuits and their influence on the control of vocal production.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31)
Project #
5F31DC006326-02
Application #
6823204
Study Section
Communication Disorders Review Committee (CDRC)
Program Officer
Sklare, Dan
Project Start
2003-09-01
Project End
2005-08-31
Budget Start
2004-09-01
Budget End
2005-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$35,138
Indirect Cost
Name
Columbia University (N.Y.)
Department
Neurosciences
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
621889815
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10032
Kelley, Darcy B; Elliott, Taffeta M; Evans, Ben J et al. (2017) Probing forebrain to hindbrain circuit functions in Xenopus. Genesis 55: