[BK21 Plus Seminar]
        
          
       ▶Subject: The utility of homeostatic plasticity cures sensory phantom percepts
              
       
       ▶Speaker: Sungchil Yang, Ph.D.(University of California)
                                
       
       ▶Date: 4:00PM/Nov./13(Thu)/2014
               
         
       ▶Place: Life Science Bldg. #104
              
       
              *Abctract
            Experience shapes sensory map. Gain control and competitive refinemnet during sensory map development require homeostatic plasticity?the capacity of neurons to adjust its synaptic transmission and intrinsic excitability in order to maintain baseline activity constant. Whereas this adaptive plasticity contributes to the formation of the normal sensory map, it remains unknown how it is involved in sensory disorders such as tinnitus, limbic pain, and neuropathic pain. We found high-frequency hearing loss results in two distinct cortical regions: 1) an expanded sensory map in the sensation-intact low-frequency area and 2) the other disrupted sensory map in the sensation-deprived high-frequency area. Tinnitus animals showed the impairment of inhibitory tone in the high-frequency hearing-loss areas as a result of the maladaptive plasticity. These results implicate that expanding the sensory-intact map through the homeostatic plasticity can alleviate the phantom percepts. As for future research plans, several therapeutic strategies to cure the sensory phantom pains will be employed, such as pharmaceutical approaches using homeostatic molecules, multisensory rehabilitation program, and therapeutic artificial brain interface. This study is also fundamental because of its essential asset concerning sensory perception.

     

      ▶Inquiry: Prof. Kim, Joung-Hun (279-2347)
           
       * This seminar will be given in English