Project Grant R01DC023532

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders awarded the University of Pittsburgh $664,448 on September 1, 2026, under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173).

The award funds investigation of how heterogeneous neural responses in auditory cortex and secondary motor cortex contribute to auditory learning and perception. The project combines large-scale neural recordings with optogenetic manipulations to examine how local auditory circuits integrate top-down inputs from frontal-motor cortex and bottom-up inputs from auditory thalamus to flexibly gate auditory perception and learning. The research specifically addresses the functional role of "non-classically responsive" neurons—cells that lack robust, trial-averaged responses to sensory inputs—during learning tasks, alongside more traditional frequency-tuned neurons.

The award funds salaries, equipment, supplies, travel, and other allowable direct and indirect research costs at the University of Pittsburgh's Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania location. The period of performance extends from September 1, 2026, through July 31, 2031. This project grant is classified as an investigator-initiated research award under the NIDCD program, which supports biomedical research and development addressing deafness and communication disorders across hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, and language.