Mapping the human subcortical auditory system
Description
Investigating the human subcortical auditory system is challenging due to the technical difficulty of in vivo MRI: the deep, small brainstem auditory nuclei require high spatial resolution, but decreasing voxel sizes reduces the signal-to-noise ratio, making the structures difficult to identify. To assist with localizing auditory structures in humans, we used high quality anatomical MRI (50 µm resolution) of a post mortem human brainstem and thalamus to create an atlas of subcortical auditory structures, which nicely corresponds with human histology and high resolution in vivo functional activation maps. Diffusion-weighted images (200 µm) from the same post mortem specimen allow us estimate connectivity between specific auditory structures, yielding a high quality, high resolution connectivity map of the subcortical auditory pathway, with applications to understanding hearing loss.
Speaker Bio
Kevin Sitek is a PhD candidate in the Harvard–MIT Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology program (advisor: Satra Ghosh, PhD). His work focuses on the human auditory pathway with a particular interest in the role of auditory feedback in speech production. He earned his BA in linguistics and cognitive science at UC Berkeley.
Additional Info
Upcoming Cog Lunches:
- Tuesday, February 26 - Nicolas Meirhaeghe
- Tuesday, March 5 - Speaker TBA
- Tuesday, March 12 - Omar Costilla
- Tuesday, March 19 - MH Tessler
- Tuesday, April 2 - Kohitij Kar
- Tuesday, April 9 - Malinda McPherson
- Tuesday, April 16 - Daniel Czegel
- Tuesday, April 23 - Speaker TBA
- Tuesday, April 30 - Speaker TBA
- Tuesday, May 7 - Speaker TBA
- Tuesday, May 14 - Speaker TBA