Bioengineering

Scott C. Molitor, Ph.D.


scottProfessor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies

B.S.E. in Engineering Science (1990)
    University of Michigan
Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering (1997)
    Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Postdoctoral Fellow (1997 - 1999)
    Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
    Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Postdoctoral Fellow (1999 - 2000)
    Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Click here for condensed CV.

The focus of our research is to understand the mechanisms contributing to neuronal information processing at the cellular level in the central auditory system. Much research in the auditory system has focused on the response properties of neurons to auditory stimuli, but little is known about how individual neurons generate these responses at the cellular level. Knowledge of how neurons process auditory information is important for understanding various auditory pathologies, and for the development of new types of auditory prostheses to assist profoundly deaf individuals. In addition, the auditory system serves as a useful model for understanding the general properties of neuronal information processing at the cellular level. Although containing unique processing mechanisms specialized to the processing of sound, insight into more general processing mechanisms can be gained by examining how central auditory neurons extract information from a well-characterized sensory stimulus. Knowledge of how sound is coded by the population of auditory nerve fibers allows for a direct correlation of sensory information and the processing mechanisms within individual neurons, in addition to a direct examination of electrophysiologic responses generated by realistic stimuli. Specifically, we are pursuing studies in the following areas:

  • characterize the properties of various voltage-dependent conductances and assess their contribution to the generation of electrophysiologic responses
  • characterize the properties of synaptic conductances and assess their contribution to the postsynaptic transduction of synaptic inputs
  • assess the contribution of voltage-dependent conductances to the postsynaptic transduction of synaptic inputs
  • assay various mechanisms contributing to a modulation of postsynaptic responses dependent upon the pattern of previous synaptic inputs and previous cellular activity
  • create realistic, physiologic-based models of individual neurons to investigate the expected responses to a variety of physiologic stimuli and to assay the contribution of individual mechanisms in these neurons
Last Updated: 6/27/22