# Mechanisms of Rapid Modulation of Auditory Responsiveness

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF OREGON · 2020 · $313,438

## Abstract

Summary
How do rapid variations of the waking state influence central auditory responses and what is the role of
noradrenergic and cholinergic systems? The central hypothesis that we wish to examine is “Rapid modulation
of the waking state result from variations in activity of the noradrenergic and cholinergic pathways and occur
along a continuum from: 1) reduced responses owing to cortical/subcortical spontaneous slow rhythms/low
frequency cell and network burst firing during low arousal, 2) quiescent but accurately responsive networks
during intermediate alertness, and 3) reduced responsiveness during high arousal or walking owing to high levels
of both excitatory and inhibitory spontaneous activity. This is a timely topic, given that modulation of auditory
responses and processing is important not only to normal hearing, but also in the recovery of function following
damage or disease. Here we will test our central hypothesis (stated above) by performing extracellular unit and
whole cell (synaptic) recordings from auditory cortical neurons and related subcortical structures (medial
geniculate, inferior colliculus) during precisely measured variations in the waking state along with monitoring and
manipulating the the activity of ascending cholinergic and noradrenergic pathways. Together, these results will
yield a significant increase in our understanding of the cellular and network mechanisms of both normal, and
recovery, of auditory cortical and subcortical function.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9822970
- **Project number:** 5R01DC015803-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
- **Principal Investigator:** David McCormick
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $313,438
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-12-01 → 2021-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9822970

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9822970, Mechanisms of Rapid Modulation of Auditory Responsiveness (5R01DC015803-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9822970. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*