The effects of genetics, environment, and aging all interact during the normal lifespan of an animal. This exploratory project is the first attempt to study interactions among those three factors on a sensory system, hearing. There is a unique opportunity to study auditory function in a group of several inbred and mutant mouse strains that are part of a study on diet and longevity. The auditory system will be tested non-invasively during the normal lifespan of these animals, and tissues will be preserved after death. Relationships among physiology, anatomy, genetics, diet and age will be evaluated by comparing data from the various subject groups. The data will provide new information about the roles of genetics and diet in maintaining stability (homeostasis) or inducing change (plasticity) in the adult auditory system over extended periods of time. There is a large interdisciplinary potential impact of the results on auditory neuroscience, on sensory science in general, on mouse genetics and biology, and on development and aging research.
