Talk abstract:

Issues to be Considered when Modeling (or Studying) the Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus (DCN)

Herbert F. Voigt
Biomedical Engineering
Boston University
HFV@enga.bu.edu

Since the early 1960's when work first began on cochlear nucleus, researchers have described and tried to make sense of the DCN's rich assortment of neurons, complex neural response properties, and intricate neural circuitry. In keeping with the mission of the IMA, in this talk I will consider a variety (although certainly not an exhaustive list) of issues facing those interested in modeling the DCN. I will briefly consider the issues of animal model, electrode choice, intra- vs. extra-cellular recordings, unit classification, choice of anesthesia, unit/neuron association, and goodness-of-fit criteria. Examples will be drawn primarily from work on cats and gerbils, which indicate possible species differences. And since the gerbil is not a cat and neither one is a human, what do we hope to gain by continued study of either? [work supported by NIH and done in collaboration with Greg Gdowski, Kevin Davis, Jiang Ding, Hua Fan, Eric Lim, Jinchuan Cheng, and Ken Hancock]

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1998-1999 Mathematics in Biology