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Thanos Tzounopoulos, Ph.D. Assistant Professor
After earning his undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Athens in Greece, Dr. Tzounopoulos came to the US as a Fulbright Scholar. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Molecular and Medical Genetics at Oregon Health and Science University in 1997. He then completed his postdoctoral research at the University of California at San Francisco; Vollum Institute and at the Oregon Hearing Research Center. Dr. Tzounopoulos was appointed as Assistant Professor at the Chicago Medical School in May 2006.
Our previous studies in the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN), an auditory brainstem nucleus, have uncovered novel forms of synaptic plasticity that occur at the earliest levels of sensory processing. The objective of our research is to determine mechanisms and synaptic rules underlying activity-dependent changes in synaptic strength of excitatory and inhibitory inputs to the auditory brainstem. Our central hypothesis is that the concerted operation of opposing forms of long-term synaptic plasticity at synapses onto different cell types in the DCN determines activation and spike timing precision of the output cell. Understanding the mechanisms and role of activity-dependent plasticity in shaping the activity of the DCN circuitry should not only contribute to a unified understanding of the generation of neural responses, but will also have a significant impact on our understanding and cures for disorders caused by neural plasticity-like mechanisms, including tinnitus.
A second area of our research focuses on tinnitus and its underlying cellular mechanisms. The nervous system is plastic; expression of neural plasticity can lead to compensation for loss of function and adaptation to changing demands. However, plasticity-induced changes can also cause signs and symptoms of disease. Tinnitus - commonly referred to as ringing in the ears or head - is the perception of sound in the absence of an environmental acoustic stimulus. 10% of the adult population experiences some degree of tinnitus. In light of recent studies implicating increased spontaneous activity in specific brain regions, we hypothesize that unique plasticity mechanisms discovered in these regions can provide cellular mechanisms underlying tinnitus.
Tzounopoulos lab and colleagues employ electrophysiological, imaging and behavioral approaches to answer these questions.
Thanos Tzounopoulos, Ph.D. Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy The Chicago Medical School 3333 Green Bay Road North Chicago, Illinois 60064
Email: athanasios.tzounopoulos@rosalindfranklin.edu Pone: (847) 578-8632 Fax: (847) 578-3253