# Circuit mechanisms underlying temporal processing in auditory cortex

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF OREGON · 2020 · $514,509

## Abstract

Project Summary
Over half of those over 65 years old have age-related hearing loss, and the primary
communication challenge reported by older adults is difficulty understanding speech in noisy
conditions, such as a crowded restaurant. Age-related speech processing deficits can occur
even with completely normal audiometric hearing, and are instead associated with temporal
processing deficits in central structures such as auditory cortex. The mechanisms underlying
temporal processing in auditory cortex are not well understood. Our broad goal is to elucidate
these mechanisms. We will use a well-established measure of temporal processing in both
humans and animals: the ability to detect a brief gap in background noise. The circuitry
underlying gap detection in cortex remains unknown. In Aim 1 we seek to elucidate this circuitry
by combining neuronal recording and optogenetics in awake mice performing a gap detection
task. In Aim 2 we seek to understand how gap detection is enhanced when fear conditioning
confers emotional significance to the gap. We propose to use fear potentiation of gap detection
in mice as a model for how associative learning in auditory cortex assigns meaning to
temporally structured sounds such as speech. We will use neuronal recording and optogenetics
before, during, and after fear conditioning to determine the cortical circuit mechanisms
underlying the associative learning of temporal structure. In both aims, our hypotheses are
expressed as a candidate neural circuit model which makes specific predictions. In each Aim we
will test these predictions, using the results to refine the model. Our broad goal is to understand
which cortical neurons and circuits are necessary for gap detection and fear potentiation of gap
detection, and how the dynamics of these circuits mediate these processes. Achieving this goal
will provide fundamental new insights into the mechanisms underlying temporal processing, and
how alterations of these mechanisms could contribute to age-related deficits in speech
comprehension.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9822971
- **Project number:** 5R01DC015828-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael Wehr
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $514,509
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-12-01 → 2021-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9822971

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9822971, Circuit mechanisms underlying temporal processing in auditory cortex (5R01DC015828-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9822971. Licensed CC0.

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