Mechanisms of central auditory processing and modulation by the limbic system. Professor and Chair Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine 4209 St. Rt. 44, P.O. Box 95 Rootstown, Ohio 44272-0095 Phone: (330) 325-6636 Fax: (330) 325-5916 Email: jjw@neoucom.edu

Education:

Professional Experience:

Research Interests:

Wenstrup's research interests are in the neural mechanisms underlying hearing and acoustically guided behaviors, particularly social communication and biological sonar. Over the past few years, we have focused increasingly on interactions between hearing and emotions. Much of our current work examines three facets of these interactions: the link between vocal signals and an animal’s emotional state, the analysis of social vocalizations by emotional centers in the brain, and the manner in which emotional centers modify processing of sounds by the auditory system. We use a wide variety of approaches in our work—behavioral, neurophysiological, pharmacological, and anatomical. We are particularly excited about technical developments that will allow us to analyze the activity of individual neurons during social interactions.

A second focus is on the neural mechanisms underlying echolocation behavior in bats. Our laboratory has discovered novel cellular mechanisms and neural connections related to bats’ analysis of the distance of flying insects and other objects using sonar.

We thank the National Institute for Deafness and other Communication Disorders and the Ohio Board of Regents for their support of this work.

Selected Publications:

• Marsh, R.A., Fuzessery, Z.M., Grose, C.D., and Wenstrup, J.J. (2002). Projection to the inferior colliculus from the basal nucleus of the amygdala. Journal of Neuroscience 22:10449-10460.
• Nataraj, K. and Wenstrup J.J. (2005) Roles of inhibition in creating complex auditory responses in the inferior colliculus: facilitated combination-sensitive neurons. Journal of Neurophysiology 93:3294-3312.
• Sherwood, C.C., Raghantil, M.A., and Wenstrup, J.J. (2005) Is humanlike lateralization of cytoarchitecture present in another species with complex social vocalization? A stereologic analysis of mustached bat auditory and visual cortex. Brain Research 1045: 164-174.
• Marsh, R.A., Nataraj, K., Gans, D., Portfors, C.V., and Wenstrup, J.J. (2006) Auditory responses in the cochlear nucleus of awake mustached bats: precursors to complex properties in the auditory midbrain. Journal of Neurophysiology 95:88-105.
• Nataraj, K. and Wenstrup J.J. (2006) Roles of inhibition in complex auditory responses in the inferior colliculus: inhibitory combination-sensitive neurons. Journal of Neurophysiology 95:2179-2192.
• Sanchez, J., Gans, D., and Wenstrup, J.J. (2007) Contribution of NMDA and AMPA receptors in temporal patterning of auditory responses in the inferior colliculus. Journal of Neuroscience 27:1954-1963.
• Sanchez, J., Gans, D., and Wenstrup, J.J. (2008) Glycinergic “inhibition” mediates selective excitatory response to combinations of sounds. Journal of Neuroscience 28:80-90.
• Peterson, D.C., Voytenko, S., Gans, D., Galazyuk*, A., and Wenstrup*, J.J. (2008) Intracellular recordings from combination-sensitive neurons in the inferior colliculus Journal of Neurophysiology 100:628-645.
  * Drs. Galazyuk and Wenstrup contributed equally as heads of the laboratories involved in this project.
• Gans, D., Sheykholeslami, K., Peterson, D., and Wenstrup, J.J. (2009) Temporal features of spectral integration in the inferior colliculus: effects of stimulus duration and rise time. Journal of Neurophysiology 102:167-180.
• Peterson, D.C., Nataraj, K., and Wenstrup, J.J. (2009) Glycinergic inhibition creates a form of spectral integration in nuclei of the lateral lemniscus. Journal of Neurophysiology 102:1004-1016.