Traditionally, auditory and vestibular researchers focus on understanding sensory processing at the periphery (sensory hair cells and afferent neurons) or in the central nervous system (cochlear/vestibular nuclei and auditory/vestibular cortex). The goal of this conference will be to bridge this gap and discuss the interactions between peripheral and central auditory and vestibular system. This will involve the interaction between feedforward effects (mechanisms and consequences of cochlear/vestibular damage) and feedback effects (central compensation / efferent effects).

The conference encompasses research on synaptic transmission, ion channel electrophysiology, neural circuitry, cell biology, molecular genetics computational neuroscience and will be of broad interests to neuroscientists. The conference will also of interest to neuroengineers as understanding peripheral-central interactions is necessary for the design of next-generation cochlear and vestibular implants.