CSP - International Conference on Auditory Cortex
Abstract
A fundamental goal of hearing research and auditory neuroscience is to understand theneurophysiological mechanisms that underlie sound perception and auditory cognition and to usethis knowledge to alleviate hearing disorders. One of the premier venues for promoting scientificprogress toward this goal is the International Conference on Auditory Cortex (ICAC;http://auditorycortex.org/). In 2"017, ICAC will take place on September 10-15 in Banff, Alberta,Canada. This will be the first time that ICAC will be held in North" America. ICAC is the only multidaymeeting that focuses exclusively on the neurophysiological underpinnings of auditoryperception." Further, because ICAC takes place in a cloistered setting without any parallelsessions, it maximizes formal and informal scientifi""c discourse in a collegial atmosphere. Ourprimary Aim is to bring together auditory scientists to exchange ideas, methods, and conc""epts onthe neurophysiological and computational mechanisms that underlie sound perception andauditory cognition. In particular, th"e organizers of ICAC are interested in attracting scientists that(1) employ methodologies and conceptual/theoretical paradigms that are often novel to studies ofauditory cortex; and (2) whose research focuses on studying the structure and function of theauditory cortex through a synthesis of both human and animal research. Our secondary Aim is tofacilitate meaningful and educational interactions between junior and senior auditoryneuroscientists during the program and to broaden the pipeline for women and minority scientistsin auditory research. ~Trainee talks~ give a cadre of graduate students and post-doctoral fellowsopportunities to advertise their posters as a short oral presentation. Select speaker slots will bereserved for junior faculty members and post-doctoral fell"ows. Further, we will award a number oftravel grants for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows that offset the cost of attend"ing ICACto significantly increase the footprint of trainees at the 2017 ICAC.Relevance to the mission of the ONR. This conference" is extremely relevant to the ONR~smission because ICAC will inform the Warfighter Performance, ONR Noise-Induced HearingLoss Prog""ram (code 34). This conference is also in line with the 2015 Naval Science andTechnology Strategic Plan; in particular, Warfighter" Health and Survivability: Reduceincidence of noise-induced hearing loss and explore mitigation and remediation. ThisNoise-Induced Hearing Loss program ~develops science and technology solutions aimed atoptimizing warfighter performance and enhancing the flexib"ility, efficiency and safety of allwarfighter missions~. Our conference bears directly on the code-34 Program and this Noise-Induc"ed Hearing Loss Plan~s goals by promoting the discussion and understanding of theneural mechanisms and representations that underli"e normal and abnormal hearing as wellas perceptual cognitive aspects of hearing, including the neural, neuromodulatory, andcomputa""tional mechanisms underlying perceptual psychophysics, learning andprediction, attention, and multisensory perception. For example," conference presentations ofabnormal hearing will lead to insights into improved methods for the prevention of noise-inducedhearing loss and recovery from noise-induced hearing loss. This information is critical becausewarfighters with abnormal hearing have dif"ficulty hearing in loud noisy environments, such asthose experienced during high-noise operational environments and suffer from los""s of situationalawareness/communications in noisy operational environments. Indeed, noise-induced hearingloss and tinnitus (which" often co-occurs with noise-induced hearing loss) are highly prevalentdisability categories for the US Department of Defense1. Seco"nd, many of the presentations fromour conference will address issues that are most taxing to the auditory system, such asmultisens""ory perception and hearing in crowded, loud environments. In
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2017
- Source ID
- N629091712100
Entities
People
- Stephen G. Lomber
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- Western University