Neurophysiology Core

Project Summary: Neurophysiology Research Core (Core C) Vestibular and hearing research is essential to meet the challenges in diagnosing and treating hearing loss and balance disorders, respectively. The Neurophysiology Research Core (Core C) of the proposed Balance and Auditory Research Center (BARC) is designed to advance the development of BARC by providing essential and state-of-the-art rodent vestibular and auditory functional testing as well as pathology modeling technologies, expertise, and infrastructure. Core C will work closely with both BARC’s Administrative Core (Core A) and the Molecular Neuroscience and Imaging Research Core (Core B), as well as BARC’s Research Project Leaders and Pilot Project recipients, to pursue BARC's overall goal of employing and expanding innovative molecular, cellular, and physiological approaches to the study of balance and hearing to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic breakthroughs and provide advanced training and mentorship opportunities for early stage and new investigators to become independent researchers. Core C will consist of three focus areas: (1) vestibular neurophysiology; (2) auditory neurophysiology; and (3) pathology models. The proposed Core C will enable us to enhance and expand the current technologies and capacities, serve as a centralized resource that can reduce redundancy, and accelerate the progress of the junior investigators’ projects and facilitate the initiation of new ones. Core C will provide infrastructure, established technologies, dedicated expertise, and well-trained staff to aid investigators in experimental design, data acquisition, data analysis and interpreting results. Establishment of Core C will also enable us to provide education and training opportunities for faculty, trainees, and students in inner ear functional assessment and pathology models.