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sensory neocortex circuitry
The vertebrate nervous system routinely achieves feats of pattern recognition unparalleled by modern computers. The natural algorithms underlying this pattern recognition and the neuronal circuitry computing them both represent targets for research in my lab. We rely upon a variety of techniques to explore these issues, including single neuron recordings from awake subjects, electrophysiological and optical recordings of auditory and visual neurons in acute brain slice preparations, focal glutamate uncaging in brain slices to map excitatory projections, and computational modeling of putative neuronal circuitry. These methods facilitate our main long-term objective of understanding how complex sounds are encoded in higher auditory centers of the brain, particularly under conditions of interfering noise. A more thorough understanding of this natural encoding has the potential to contribute to the engineering of improved devices for interfacing with humans, including hearing aids, auditory prostheses and computers capable of recognizing speech.

Research Publications

Barbour DL, Wang X (2003 Aug 6). Auditory cortical responses elicited in awake primates by random spectrum stimuli. J Neurosci. 23 (18): 7194-206. Full Article >

Barbour DL, Wang X (2003 Feb 14). Contrast tuning in auditory cortex. Science. 299 (5609): 1073-5. Full Article >

Barbour DL, Wang X (2002 Nov). Temporal coherence sensitivity in auditory cortex. J Neurophysiol. 88 (5): 2684-99. Full Article >

Contact Info
Dennis Barbour, MD, PhD.
Office Location: Whitaker 200E
Office Phone: 314-935-7548
Lab Phone: 314-935-5083
Campus Box: 1097
Fax: 314-935-7448

dbarbour@wustl.edu