# Admin Supplement: Cortical Mechanisms Supporting Auditory Perceptual Learning

> **NIH NIH R00** · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · 2020 · $44,105

## Abstract

Summary
The ability to improve our perceptual skills- to get better with practice- is critical for the acquisition
of many complex behaviors, including speech and language. Despite its importance, our
understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying this process, known as perceptual learning,
remains limited. Recent evidence suggests that training-based plasticity occurs in the top-down
networks that modulate auditory cortical activity during task engagement, likely playing an
important role in generating long-term improvements in sound encoding and perception. The goal
of this project is to explore this hypothesis, specifically focusing on one candidate brain region-
the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). First, to establish the anatomical substrate of this modulation, direct
and indirect pathways from OFC to ACx will be characterized in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones
unguiculatus) using anatomical tract tracing. Second, to determine the temporal dynamics of top-
down activity during perceptual learning, multichannel extracellular recordings will be acquired
wirelessly from OFC as animals train and improve on an auditory detection task. Third, to
determine whether OFC-mediated modulation of auditory cortical activity plays a causal role in
perceptual learning, optogenetics will be used to manipulate OFC activity while simultaneously
monitoring auditory cortical response properties and behavioral output. This line of inquiry is well
positioned to answer fundamental questions in the fields of auditory learning and memory, and
holds the potential to inform the development of clinical treatments to improve perceptual skills in
patients with hearing, speech, or language deficits.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9998545
- **Project number:** 3R00DC016046-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
- **Principal Investigator:** Melissa Lynne Caras
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $44,105
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9998545

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9998545, Admin Supplement: Cortical Mechanisms Supporting Auditory Perceptual Learning (3R00DC016046-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9998545. Licensed CC0.

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