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Cynthia Moss, Ph.D.
Professor Integrative Neuroscience
E-mail: cmoss@psyc.umd.edu
Auditory Neuroethology Laboratory (BATLAB) |
Research and Teaching Interests:
Our research program is directed at understanding auditory information processing and sensorimotor integration in vertebrates. In our lab, the echolocating bat serves as a model system for a neuroethologically-based study of hearing and perceptually-guided behavior. Our work combines acoustical, psychophysical, perceptual, computational and neurophysiological studies, with the goal of developing integrative theories on brain-behavior relations in animal systems. Current behavioral studies focus on the processing of dynamic acoustic signals for the perception of auditory scenes. The aims of this work are to develop a broad understanding of complex signal processing in biological systems and to establish an empirical foundation for integrative models of spatial information processing, the perceptual organization of sound, and adaptive motor behaviors.
Neurophysiological studies examine how the brain processes sensory information
and how this information is integrated with motor programs to permit perceptually-guided
behavior. Current experiments focus on the functional organization of the bat's
superior colliculus, a midbrain structure implicated in the coordination of multimodal
sensory inputs and goal-directed motor behaviors. Recent results in the lab reveal
distinct functional specializations in the superior colliculus that are important
for the bat's acoustic orientation by sonar, and these data are used to develop
a theoretical framework on the functional role of the mammalian midbrain.
Dr. Moss has a joint appointment in the Institute
for Systems Research.
She is also co-director of the Neuroethology
Training Program, a member of NACS, and an affiliate member of the Biology
Department.
Dr. Moss teaches courses in neuroethology, neural systems and behavior and the auditory system.