An additional goal of the lab is to test the hypothesis that the dorsal cochlear nucleus functions to predict and cancel self-generated sounds. Cerebellum-like circuits in fish and mammals provide a unique opportunity for a comparative study of neural circuit function because they evolved independently and exhibit both strikingly similarities and differences in their circuitry and cellular physiology. Future studies will also take advantage of powerful genetic tools available in mice for linking adaptive sensory processing in the dorsal cochlear nucleus to aspects of the underlying circuitry, including specific sites and mechanisms of synaptic plasticity and neuromodulation.
