13415-Wong, Donald
Faculty

Donald Wong, PhD

Associate Professor Emeritus of Anatomy & Cell Biology

Phone (317) 274-2788
Address
GH 4700
ANAT
IN
Indianapolis, IN
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Bio

Education and Former Affiliations

  • Cornell University, BS, 1973
  • Columbia University, MA, 1977
  • Columbia University, M. Phil., 1979
  • Columbia University, PhD, 1981
  • Washington University, Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1981-1984

 

Academic Appointments

  • 1994 (July)* - present Associate Professor of Anatomy (primary appointment) Associate Professor of Otolaryngology & Head-Neck Surgery
  • 1984-1994 - Assistant Professor of Anatomy, Indiana University School of Medicine at Indianapolis (**tenured July 1, 1991)
  • 1989-1994 - Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology & Head-Neck Surgery
  • 1981-84 - Postdoctoral training in auditory neurophysio-logy under Dr. Nobuo Suga at Washington University. Complex-sound processing of neurons at higher centers of auditory pathway.
  • 1977-81 - Ph.D. training in neurobiology under Dr. James P. Kelly at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. Laminar connections of cat primary auditory cortex.
  • 1975-76 - Graduate research training under Dr. Sid Gilman at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. Collateral sprouting in the central nervous system; multiunit recording and neurologic testing.
  • 1973-75 - Research with Dr. Ernest W. April at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons.. structural studies of single muscle fibers using x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy.

 

Titles & Appointments

  • Associate Professor Emeritus of Anatomy & Cell Biology
  • Associate Professor Emeritus of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
  • Associate Professor Emeritus of Neurology
  • Education
    1981 PhD Columbia University
    1979 MPHIL Columbia University
    1976 MA Columbia University
    1973 BS Cornell University
  • Research

    A central interest of our research is to understand how the brain processes complex sounds in generating auditory perception. Extracellular single-unit recording is used to analyze the functional organization of the mammalian auditory cortex. Neuroanatomical tract-tracing is employed to determine the anatomical connections of physiologically-identified regions. A computational neuroscience approach is further used to model single neurons with artificial neural-networks and signal-processing techniques.

    A second area of research is directed at plasticity in the central auditory pathway. The auditory nerve of drug-deafened animals is electrically stimulated to mimic the clinical condition found in profoundly-deaf patients surgically implanted with cochlear prostheses. "Artificial" nerve stimulation in deafened animals will be evaluated for its potential to reverse nerve degeneration and induce functional reorganization.

    A third area will use positron-emission tomography (PET) to image the human cerebral cortex, and compare regions activated by speech in both normal-hearing and profoundly-deaf patients fitted with different prosthetic devices.

     

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