- Vacancy Reference Number
- S55_KING
- Closing Date
- 25 Feb 2019
- Salary
- £15,500 in year 1, rising by £500 in years 2 and 3.
- Address
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford
- Duration
- 3 years
Accurate spatial hearing has clear survival value, by indicating, for example, the approach of a vehicle when crossing the street. It also plays an important role in “cocktail party listening”, where the challenge is to pick out a particular voice in a crowd. This ability relies principally on the detection of differences in the timing and intensity of sound between the two ears, and is therefore impaired in the many cases where hearing loss affects one ear more than the other.
The auditory neuroscience group in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at the University of Oxford has shown that the processing of auditory spatial cues in the brain is shaped by experience, both during development and in later life. With appropriate training, the mature brain can learn to compensate for an imbalance in hearing between the two ears either by switching from binaural (2-ear) to monaural spatial cues for localization in the horizontal plane or by learning to associate the abnormal binaural spatial cues with appropriate locations in space. This surprising capacity for adaptive plasticity has important implications for rehabilitation strategies in the hearing impaired.
This 3 year PhD project, which is funded by Action on Hearing Loss and the Wellcome Trust, will investigate the neural basis by which the brain is able to adapt to asymmetric hearing loss and extend this work to more natural listening conditions than those typically used in the laboratory. By investigating the extent to which these mechanisms operate under more challenging listening conditions – in the presence of other, interfering sounds – and following sensorineural (rather than purely conductive) hearing loss in one ear, the project will reveal how what we hear shapes the way sounds are processed and perceived. This study should also point to improved strategies for treating people with hearing loss that affects one ear more than the other.
The project will provide training in the use of behavioural methods, in vivo electrophysiological recordings and optogenetic approaches for investigating the neural circuitry involved.
Further Information
Key requirements: The successful PhD candidate will be involved in planning/programming experiments, collecting and analysing data, and reporting the results for publication and writing a thesis. Candidates must have the equivalent of a first or upper-second class degree in neuroscience, biomedical science, psychology, preclinical medicine, audiology, bioengineering or a closely related field. The funding for this studentship, which starts on 1 October 2019, provides a stipend for 3 years and covers fees at the UK/EU rate.
Contact Details
To apply, please send a covering letter (detailing why you are interested and a suitable candidate for this PhD project), a CV, and the names of 3 referees to Professor Andrew King (andrew.king@dpag.ox.ac.uk) to whom informal inquiries can be directed. The position is open until filled, but the deadline for the initial assessment of candidates is Friday 25th February 2019, with interviews taking place at the end of February.
