Joseph P. Walton, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology (Surgery) Director of Research in Audiology, Strong Memorial Hospital Associate Professor of Communication Disorders and Sciences, SUNY at Buffalo

Graduated from the University of Florida; Obtained M.A. in Audiology and Ph.D. in Auditory Physiology from the University of Florida, also.

One of the most prevalent health related complaints of the elderly is difficulty understanding speech in adverse listening conditions, such as background noise. The neural bases of age-related deterioration in neural processing of complex acoustic features in quiet and in noisy backgrounds is the principal research focus in my laboratory. Recent findings from the laboratory are the first to report a significant age-related alteration in the manner in which cells in the auditory midbrain encode rapid changes in sound amplitude. In addition, certain cells in a key brainstem nucleus, the inferior colliculus, appear specialized for encoding changes in sound amplitude in poor signal-to-noise conditions. Two experimental approaches are used: (1) we compare neural processing of temporal sound features in young and old cells using single-cell recording techniques, and (2) using microiontophoretic techniques we apply drugs which block inhibitory circuits, while recording from a single neuron, and measure the effect this has on neural temporal processing. Our long-term goal is to unravel those changes which are responsible for the auditory perceptual deficits associated with peripheral and central aging in the auditory system.

Phone: (585)275-1248
Email: Joseph_Walton@urmc.rochester.edu