A rate-limiting step for many studies of the nervous system is obtaining and effectively using the sophisticated technical hardware and analytical methods needed for innovative research. These constraints apply as well to studies of neural signal processing in the brain as they do to studies of disordered processing in animal models of hearing or balance deficits. Even if hardware/software systems are available for planned experiments, they inevitably require modification for special purposes or integration with other systems in the laboratory. This Engineering Core aims to solve these electronics and computer problems by providing computer programming and electronics expertise to researchers in the Center for Hearing and Balance. The cumulative expertise of our staff makes it possible for our research faculty to focus on experiments and not technology development and allows rapid progress in the use of new technologies. During the past five years this core has developed new behavioral interfaces, new telemetric recording equipment for use in awake and unrestrained animals, and new software for on-line optimization of neuron models. We have adapted multi-single unit recording techniques for our uses and have provided support for routine problems of technology usage.
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