Grant: Operating Grant

The nervous system must detect very weak signals in the presence of noise. For example, we must attend to and comprehend conversation even when traffic and other noise source might be louder than the speech we are trying to understand. This subject is of great importance for both normal function and may be perturbed in some individuals. However it is very difficult to study in humans because of the great complexity of speech and other signals important to us and, also, because of the overwhelming complexity of the human brain. We work on a simple model system- the electric fish- that specializes in the detection of weak electric signals that occur in the presence of strong noise. Our studies reveal how the same biological mechanisms found in our brain can be organized so as to reject noise and detect the weakest of signals.