Award
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders 5U01DC000151-41
Coding in Auditory Neurons: Effects of Amino Acids
Recipient
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL
Award Amount
$57,717.00
Ceiling
$57,717.00
Awarded
January 28, 2026
Identifier
5U01DC000151-41
This award funds research to study how aging affects auditory processing and cholinergic receptor pharmacology to improve speech comprehension in elderly individuals with age-related hearing loss.
Description
The proposed studies aim to better understand how age-related hearing loss impacts acoustic information processing in auditory brain centers. The research focuses on neurotransmitter systems involved in hearing and attention, particularly cholinergic receptors, and how they change with aging. The studies will investigate the pharmacology of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the inferior colliculus and auditory thalamus, response properties of auditory units to stimuli, and the effects of acetylcholine release from the pontine mesencephalic tegmentum. The goal is to identify receptor subtypes resistant to aging to improve speech understanding in the elderly.