A PhD position is available in the Department of Neuroscience of the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands to study the cellular mechanisms of tinnitus. In this project, you will use in vivo two-photon calcium imaging with genetically encoded calcium indicators to study the changes in firing behavior of auditory neurons in the inferior colliculus (IC) after induction of tinnitus in mice. The presence of tinnitus will be assessed in an operant conditioning task. Optogenetics will be used to manipulate the inputs to the IC. With in vivo patch clamp recordings the mechanisms underlying changes in excitability can be tested. By directly relating behavioural evidence of tinnitus to neuronal activity, it will thus be possible to study the cellular basis of tinnitus with unprecedented detail.
Prof. J. Gerard G. Borst