Auditory Central Processing and Plasticity

Call for Papers

The auditory signals are processed through several stations before reaching the auditory cortex. The circuitries are also modified in different stages upon different conditions. In the auditory cortex, the neuronal circuitries are consistently modified in order to adapt to the needs of changes and in order to encode the auditory information and intermodal information. The auditory cortex interacts with other sensory cortical areas for inter-/multimodal integration and interacts with the prefrontal and medial temporal lobes in facilitating the plasticity.

In the present special issue, we would like to focus on neuronal integration and plasticity of the auditory system and the interactions of the auditory system with other sensory systems and with higher functional region of the brain.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will stimulate the continuing efforts to understand the neuronal processing and neuronal plasticity in the central auditory pathway. We are also interested in articles and reviews in the areas about the interaction of the auditory system with other sensory systems and medial temporal and frontal lobes. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Neuronal processing and plasticity in the inferior colliculus and brainstem
• Neuronal processing and plasticity in the thalamocortical circuit
• Learning and memory in the auditory system
• Changes in the central auditory system induced by hearing impairment
• Phantom auditory sensation with a central origin
• Auditory hyperacusis
• Cross-modal integration and plasticity

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/np/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/np/audit/ according to the following timetable:

Lead Guest Editor

• Jufang He, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Guest Editors

• Josef Rauschecker, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, New Research Building, Room WP 19, P.O. Box 571460, Washington, DC 20057-1460, USA
• Lin Chen, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China