We focus on investigating the function of mammalian hair cells. Hair cells represent the first step of neuronal processing in the inner ear.  Inner hair cells transform the acoustic stimulus into the release of neuro transmitter, which elicits neuronal activity on the auditory nerve that is subsequently transmitted via several intermediate stages to the cortex. Outer hair cells react to acoustic stimulation with fast contractions of their cell bodies, which directly and mechanically amplify the oscillations in the ear enabling us to hear at very low sound intensities.

We are escpecially interested in the electrical properties of hair cells and the transduction via the release of neuro-transmitter. In the lab we use several different techniques - mostly electrophysiological measurements (patch-clamp measurements), but we also use imaging and molecular biology techniques.

Specifically we are interested in:

• the electrophysiology of voltage dependent Ca²⁺ and K⁺ ion channels in inner and outer hair cells
• especially the electrophysiology and molecular biology of the “neuro-endocrine” voltage dependent Ca²⁺-channels Ca_v1.3, which activate very fast at very negative potentials, permitting  very sensitive signal transduction with a high temporal fidelity
• the spatial organisation of Ca²⁺-channels and their co-localisation with other ion channels and proteins at the pre-synaptic zone of the inner hair cell
• the role of spontaneous activity (Ca²⁺ action potentials) for the  final differentiation of hair cells and the auditory pathway
• Ca²⁺-signalling and Ca²⁺-waves in the inner ear
• the development of an electrophysiological model of the hair cell