Category: Specialized Subjects, Credit : 1,
Intensive summer lecture, time: 2nd,3rd, 4th & 5th period, September 23, 24, 25 & 28
This course MUST be taken in conjunction with I0433/I433. If you are taking this course, please also register for I0433/I433.
Instructor: Dr. Ben Warren, University of Leicester, Leicestershire, UK
Subtitle: Hearing and Concussion
Course Description
Our ability to enjoy music, converse with friends and interact with our environment depend on the function of our fascinating ears. The ears of humans and wider mammals is, however, based on a singularly-evolved ear design – the cochlea. Insects provide a wealth of starkly different ear designs, which have evolved on many different body parts. The majority of this four-day intense course will understand auditory transduction by using a wide variety of ear types, across animal phyla. This
comparative approach to understanding hearing is particularly insightful and fascinating and brings a broad but deep understanding to hearing.
Objectives
Upon completion of the course, students are expected to:
1. Understand basic biophysical principles of sound waves and their reception in ears and how sound waves are converted
into movements of sound receivers and then transduced into electrical signals.
2. To understand the biomechanical strategies that ears employ to increase their sensitivity to quiet sound, tune their ears to
frequencies of interest and detect the amplitude of sound.
3. Understand the ‘arms race’ between insects and bats and the different strategies employed between them.
4. Understand the main types and causes of hearing loss and state-of-the-art research in hearing loss.
5. Give a historical account of concussion and up-to-date research on its fundamental causes.
6. Understand the scientific process of discovery and to critically interpret scientific findings.
7. Presentation and debate skills.
Course Schedule
We will focus on the biomechanics of sound receptors and then delve deep into ears to focus our analyses on the auditory receptors that convert sound-induced movements into electrical potentials (Day 1).
We will look at the perplexing self-induced movements of auditory receptors and state-of-the-art in the search for crucial proteins necessary for hearing (Day 2).
The evolutionary battle between insects and bats that predate upon them, offer intriguing examples of ear evolution and hearing strategies (Day 3, Morning). We will then understand something that will affect us all – hearing loss, and the different strategies used to unravel its cryptic cause (Day 3, Afternoon).
The final day will center our attention on concussion, starting with a historical perspective but then synthesizing recent work that understands what goes wrong with our neurons when they experience a mechanical insult. This intensive course will use a combination of hands-on group activities, lectures, journal clubs, debate clubs, short presentations and poster construction to provide a deep, holistic and engaging understanding of hearing and concussion.
*Please note that this course MUST be taken in conjunction with I0433/I433.
Course Topics
1. Physical principles of sound waves
2. Biophysical principles of sound receivers
3. Insect hearing
4. Cricket auditory behaviour and neural circuits
5. The vertebrate ear
6. Auditory transduction in primary auditory receptors
7. Biophysical models to explain active auditory mechanics
8. Bat vs insects acoustic detection
9. Causes and pathologies of hearing loss
10. Historical perspective of concussion.
11. Pathways and pathologies of concussion
12. Model systems for understanding hearing
Methods of Instruction:
This course with I0433/I433 will consist of 13 lectures, 7 group activities, 6 journal clubs, 2 debate clubs. This combination
of learning approaches will allow students to test and refine their knowledge.
out of class activity requirement
One mid-course assignment
Textbooks/Materials
1. Textbook: An introduction to the physiology of hearing: Forth edition, James O. Pickles ISBN: 9004243771. Essential reading, chapters: 1,2,3 and 5
2. Journal (essential reading before the start of the course, or before each day):
Day 1 An auditory feature detection circuit for sound pattern recognition, Schöneich et al., 2015, Behavioral Neuroscience
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500325
*The below journal papers will be run as paper focus groups and you will not be expected to read them beforehand.*
Day 2 TRPA1 is a candidate for the mechanosensitive transduction channel of vertebrate hair cells Corey et al., 2004, Nature
DOI: 10.1038/nature03066
Prestin is the motor protein of cochlear outer hair cells, Zheng et al., 2000, Nature DOI: 10.1038/35012009
An electrical resonance in hair cells of the amphibian papilla of the frog Rana temporaria, Pitchford and Ashmore, 1987,
Hearing Research DOI: doi.org/10.1016/0378-5955(87)90027-X
Assessment
Day 3 Physiological basis of noise-induced hearing loss in an tympanal ear, Warren et al., 2019, Journal of Neuroscience
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/698670v1
Day 4 A Drosophila model of closed head traumatic brain injury, Katzenburger et al., 2013, PNAS DOI:
doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1316895110
Grading plan/Evaluation:
1. Class discussions/presentation and group activities: 30%
2. Writing assignments and case reports:30%
3. Final exam 40%
Required background knowledge
Please note that this course MUST be taken in conjunction with I0433/I433. I0380/I380 is the first half (day 1 and 2) and
I0433/I433 is the second half (day 3 and 4).
Kayo Satoh