The Importance of Experience on Brain Development, Cerebral Organization and Cortical Plasticity
The work of our laboratory is guided by the question:
“How does experience influence brain development and influence adaptive neuroplasticity?”
In order to answer this question, we are presently pursuing 3 different avenues of investigation:
- Cortical processing and organization in the hearing subject
- Cortical processing and organization in the congenitally deaf
- Cortical processing and organization in the deaf following cochlear implant
Techniques in our lab
Psychophysical Testing
We use many psychophysical testing paradigms to examine both visual and acoustic function in our experimental subjects.
Reversible Cooling Deactivation
We employ state-of-the-art cooling deactivation to permit the temporary and reversible inactivation of specific loci in the cerebrum.
Electrophysiological Recording
We use multicellular recording techniques to examine the activity of individual neurons in both acute and chronic experimental preparations.
Pathway Tracing and Histochemistry
We use current pathway tracing and histochemical techniques to reveal the circuitry underlying the functional changes identified in our behavioural and electrophysiogical assessments.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
We use both structural, functional, and DTI MRI techniques to study differences between hearing and deaf individuals, revealing variations in anatomy, neuronal activation, and pathways.
