Paul D. Allen
Postdoctoral Fellow, Brain &
Cognitive Sciences
Contact Information
- Meliora 168
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences
- University of Rochester
- Rochester, NY 14627-0268
- (585) 273-2132 (office)
Office Hours
By appointment.
Education
- Ph.D., Physics, University of Western Australia, 1999
- B.Sc., Physics, University of Western Australia, 1996
Research Overview
I am currently interested in investigating the role of high-fidelity transmission of timing information in the auditory brainstem and the physiological, anatomical, and molecular biological specializations that have occurred in this system to fulfil this function. This interest has led to two related areas of inquiry, the role of voltage-gated potassium channels in the processing and transmission of timing information, and how age-related changes in auditory spatial processing might contribute to presbycusis.
Voltage-gated potassium channels are highly expressed in the auditory brainstem, and the different channel sub-species show differential expression between different nuclei, hinting at a differential functional role based on their biophysical properties. We have been pursuing this hypothesis at the University of Rochester with behavioural and electrophysiological methods in a colony of Kv1.1 knock-out mice in order to understand the function of this ion channel in the young normal animal. We have also found evidence of an age-related decline in potassium channel expression in CBA/CaJ mice, suggesting that changes in gene expression might contribute to reduced auditory function with age.
Auditory spatial localization relies on high-fidelity transmission of binaural acoustic information, and as such, this system might be vulnerable to small perturbations in temporal processing, such as occur with age. Auditory spatial localization may be used indirectly in social communication via the phenomenon of binaural unmasking, whereby spatially separate sound sources produce less perceptual interference than do spatially coincident ones. Recently I have helped to develop a behavioural technique based on pre-pulse inhibition of startle that allows measurement of the minimum audible angle in the mouse. A current experiment looks at how this measure is affected by age, and preliminary data suggest that the time-course of binaural acoustic information processing is prolonged with age, with implications for elderly listeners when communicating in acoustically complex environments.
Recent Publications
- Allen P.D., Ison J.R., Bowers W.J, Patel M., Frisina D.R., & Walton J.P. (2002). KCNA1 Knockout mice have deficits in high frequency SAM evoked potentials recorded in the inferior colliculus. Association for Research in Otolaryngology Abstracts, 25, 188.
- Ison, J.R., Allen, P.D., Walton, J.P., Bowers, W.J, & Frisina, D.R (2002). Normal threshold and suprathreshold ABR and ASR responses to acoustic onsets in KCNA1 knockout mice, but a reduced response to offsets. Association for Research in Otolaryngology Abstracts, 25, 188.
- Ison, J.R., Castro, J., Allen, P., Virag, T.M., & Walton, J.P. (2002). The relative detectability for mice of gaps having different ramp durations at their onset and offset boundaries. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 112, 740-747.
- Ison, J.R., Virag, T.M., Allen, P.D., & Hammond, G.R. (2002). The attention filter for tones in noise has the same shape and effective bandwidth in the elderly as it has in young listeners. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 112, 238-246.
- St Pierre, T.G., Gorham, N.T., Allen, P.D., Costa-Kràmer, J.L., & Rao, K.V. (2002). Apparent magnetic energy barrier distribution in horse spleen ferritin: Evidence for multiple interacting magnetic entities per ferrihydrite nanoparticle. Physical Review B, 65, 024436.
- Allen, P.D. , Burkhard, R., Ison, J.R., O'Neill, W.E., & Walton, J.P. (2001). Impaired temporal acuity in the inferior colliculus of old mice, as revealed by prolonged recovery functions of near-field potentials to gaps in noise. Association for Research in Otolaryngology Abstracts, 24, 273.
- Allen, P.D., & Ison, J.R. (2001). Air-puff and acoustic startle in the hearing impaired C57BL/6J mouse. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 27.
- Ison, J.R., & Allen, P.D. (2001). Age-related changes in visual sensitivity in CBA/CAJ and C57Bl/6J mice and their F1 hybrid offspring. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 27.
- Ison, J.R , Virag, T.M., Allen, P.D., & Hammond, G.R. (2001). Selective auditory attention as revealed by the probe-signal method, is equally effective in young and aged human listeners. Association for Research in Otolaryngology Abstracts, 24, 212.
- Virag, T.M., Allen, P.D., Ison, J.R., & Walton, J.P. (2001). Human observers are equally sensitive to differences in rise versus fall time at the edge of an asymmetric gap envelope for gap detection and salience. Association for Research in Otolaryngology Abstracts, 24, 249.
- Allen, P.D., Barsz, K., Ison, J.R., Walton, J.P., & O'Neill, W.E. (2000). Gap-detection in behaving mice for octave band noise compared to inferior colliculus gap-detection for neurons of different best frequency. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 26, 183.
- Allen ,P.D., St Pierre, T.G., Chua-anusorn W., Ström, V., & Rao, K.V. (2000). Low-frequency low-field magnetic susceptibility of ferritin and hemosiderin. Biophysica et Biocimica Acta, 1500, 186-196.
- Allen, P.D., St. Pierre, T.G., & Street, R. (1998). Magnetic interactions in native horse spleen ferritin below the superparamagnetic blocking temperature. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, 177-181, pp. 1459-1460.
- Pankhurst, Q.A., Allen, P.D., Cohen, N.S., Colbeck, I., Forster, G.D., & Jeffery, D. (1998). Fine particle iron oxide prepared by aerosol pyrolysis of the iron storage protein ferritin. Journal of Aerosol Science, 29(1), pp. S913-914.
Research Support
My research is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.