Research Interest

Role of experience in the development of the nervous system; analyses of the neuroanatomy, electrophysiology, neuro-pharmacology and development of the auditory system using both whole animal and brain slice techniques.

Current Projects

1. Experiential influences on the development of the auditory system. This includes analyses of the physiological and trophic roles of specific neurotransmitters using a brain slice preparation
2. Electrophysiological investigations of how the brain might encode acoustic information

Much of our current research makes use of a brain slice preparation of the avian brain stem auditory system. The general lines of research currently active in my laboratory are highlighted below. The listed publications provide examples from each of these areas of interest. This work has been funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders (NIDCD).

Experiential influences

Sensory experience has a dramatic influence on the development of the nervous system. In the auditory system, for example, early deafness results in the neuronal death and atrophy. Somehow, auditory experience keeps these neurons healthy. We are attempting to identify the important activity -dependent signal(s) for cell survival in this system and determine the cellular mechanisms of their action.

Neuropharmacology and Neurophysiology

In addition to characterizing physiological responses produced by transmitter substances, we are investigating how the brain might encode acoustic information. Specifically, we have been investigating a neural circuit believed to be involved in coding sound location. Neurons in this circuit have specialized features for encoding temporal aspect of auditory stimuli and encode the location of a sound based on the differences in the timing of information coming from the two ears.

Publications

Selected Publications

• Bush, A. L. and Hyson, R.L. (2008) Effects of lithium and deafferentation on expression of glycogen synthase kinase 3Β, NFκB, Β-catenin and pCreb in the chick cochlear nucleus. Brain Research 1203:18-25.
• Nicholas A. H. and Hyson, R.L. (2006) Afferent Regulation of Oxidative Stress in the Chick Cochlear Nucleus. Neuroscience, 140:1359-1368.
• Bush, A. L. and Hyson, R.L. Lithium increases bcl-2 expression in chick cochlear nucleus and protects against deafferentation-induced cell death. Neuroscience, 138:1341-1349.
• Hyson, R.L. (2005) The analysis of interaural time differences in the chick brain stem. Physiology & Behavior, 86: 297-305.
• Nicholas A. H. and Hyson, R.L. (2004) Group I and II metabotropic glutamate receptors are necessary for the activity-dependent regulation of ribosomes in chick auditory neurons. Brain Research, 1014:110-119.
• Wilkinson B. L, A. Jeromin, J. Roder, and Hyson, R.L. (2003) Activity-dependent regulation of the subcellular localization of neuronal calcium sensor-1 in the avian cochlear nucleus. Neuroscience, 117: 957-964
• Wilkinson, B. L., Elam, J. S., Fadool, D. A., and Hyson, R.L. (2003) Afferent regulation of cytochrome-c and active caspase-9 in the avian cochlear nucleus. Neuroscience, 120:1071-1079.
• Wilkinson, B.L., Sadler, K.A., Hyson, R.L. (2002) Rapid deafferentation-induced upregulation of bcl-2 mRNA in the chick cochlear nucleus. Molecular Brain Research, 99:67-74.
• Soares, D., Chitwood, R.A., Hyson, R.L., and Carr, C.E. (2002) The intrinsic neuronal properties of the chick nucleus angularis. Journal of Neurophysiology, 88:152-162.
• Hyson, R.L. and Johnson, F. (Eds.) (1999) The Biology of Early Influences. Plenum: New York.