Seminar – Marina Silveira, Ph.D.

Neuromodulators shape the organization, function, and computations of neuronal circuits. The overall goal of the Silveira Laboratory is to understand how neuromodulation impacts sound processing in the brain. In the central auditory pathway, most auditory pathways converge in the inferior colliculus (IC), which is localized in the auditory midbrain. The IC is extremely important for hearing, as damage to the IC leads to major impairments in speech comprehension and sound localization. Interestingly, the IC receives several neuromodulatory inputs, however how neuromodulators shape auditory processing in the IC and how neuromodulatory inputs to the IC change after hearing loss is largely unknown. In our lab we use in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics and anatomy to understand how neuromodulation impacts auditory computations in the auditory midbrain and how midbrain circuits change after hearing loss.