Hearing
We are interested in basic aspects of hearing, from perception to receptor physiology. We explore mechanisms underlying sound detection and discrimination. We are also interested in developing suitable measures of accuracy and precision for discrimination and matching tasks, because existing textbook measures often fail to separate the concepts of accuracy and precision, such as when stimulus parameters can attain only positive real values. These insights have widespread implications for many fields.
We also analyze the timing of auditory-nerve-fiber spikes, the first possible precursors of the ‘sensory events’ involved in perceptual detection and discrimination. We developed the first model to account for all major aspects of spike timing in mammalian ANFs during spontaneous activity. The model will help better understand spike timing during sound-driven activity, including phase locking.
- Head
Head
Peter Heil studied biology at the Technical University Darmstadt. 1983 Diploma; 1989 Ph.D.; 1993 Habilitation.
Extended research visits at Ponce School of Medicine, Puerto Rico, USA; Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, ISRAEL; Low Temperature Laboratory, Helsinki University of Technology, FINLAND; Department of Psychology, Monash University, AUSTRALIA.
1990-1991: Postdoc with Dexter R.F. Irvine, Department of Psychology, Monash University, AUSTRALIA (Feodor-Lynen-Scholarship, Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation);
1995-1998: Principal Investigator in the Department of Psychology, Monash University, AUSTRALIA (NH&MRC Australia).
1998-present: Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology Magdeburg, Germany. 2002-present: Ombudsman at LIN.
2016-present: Contributing Member of Faculty1000. Main research interest: hearing. Currently 75 papers in peer-reviewed journals, eight book chapters.
- Members
Members
Head Prof. Dr. Peter Heil +49-391-6263-94441 peter.heil@lin-magdeburg.de PhD student Adam J. Peterson +49-391-6263-94381 adam.peterson@lin-magdeburg.de Technical staff member Gabriele Schöps +49-391-6263-95461 gabriele.schoeps@lin-magdeburg.de Guests Dr. Björn Friedrich - Projects
Projects
- Modeling spontaneous activity of auditory-nerve fibers
- Modeling phase locking of auditory-nerve fibers
- Measurements and modeling of human detection thresholds for sounds in quiet (including single monaural tones, dichotic and diotic tones, tone sequences, and tone complexes)
- Measurements and modeling of human monaural and interaural level difference thresholds
- Measurements and modeling of simple reaction times of humans to tones of various envelopes and levels
- Modeling spontaneous activity of auditory-nerve fibers
- Current Third Party Funds
Current Third Party Funds
2016-2019
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (He1721/11-2)
“Mechanisms of phase-locking of auditory-nerve fibers: a modelling approach”
http://www.pp1608.com/ - Publications
Publications
2019
Peterson AJ, Heil P. 2019. Phase Locking of Auditory-Nerve Fibers Reveals Stereotyped Distortions and an Exponential Transfer Function with a Level-Dependent Slope. Journal of Neuroscience. 39(21):4077-4099. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1801-18.2019
Huang Y, Heil P, Brosch M. 2019. Associations between sounds and actions in early auditory cortex of nonhuman primates. eLife. 8. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43281
2018
Peterson AJ, Huet A, Bourien J, Puel JL, Heil P. 2018. Recovery of auditory-nerve-fiber spike amplitude under natural excitation conditions. Hearing Research. 370:248-263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2018.08.007
Peterson AJ, Heil P. 2018. A simple model of the inner-hair-cell ribbon synapse accounts for mammalian auditory-nerve-fiber spontaneous spike times. Hearing Research. 363:1-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2017.09.005
2017
Heil P, Matysiak A. 2017. Absolute auditory threshold: Testing the absolute. European Journal of Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.13765
Heil P, Matysiak A, Neubauer H. 2017. A probabilistic Poisson-based model accounts for an extensive set of absolute auditory threshold measurements. Hearing Research. 353:135-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2017.06.011
Friedrich B, Heil P. 2017. Onset-duration matching of acoustic stimuli revisited: Conventional arithmetic vs. proposed geometric measures of accuracy and precision. Frontiers in Psychology. 7(JAN). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02013
Heil P, Peterson AJ. 2017. Spike timing in auditory-nerve fibers during spontaneous activity and phase locking. Synapse. 71(1):5-36. https://doi.org/10.1002/syn.21925
2016
Huang Y, Matysiak A, Heil P, König R, Brosch M. 2016. Persistent neural activity in auditory cortex is related to auditory working memory in humans and nonhuman primates. eLife. 5(JULY). https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.15441
2015
Heil P, Peterson AJ. 2015. Basic response properties of auditory nerve fibers: a review. Cell and Tissue Research. 361(1):129-158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-015-2177-9
Budinger E, Brechmann A, Brosch M, Heil P, König R, Ohl FW, Scheich H. 2015. Auditory cortex 2014 - towards a synthesis of human and animal research. European Journal of Neuroscience. 41(5):515-517. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.12832
König R, Matysiak A, Kordecki W, Sieluzycki C, Zacharias N, Heil P. 2015. Averaging auditory evoked magnetoencephalographic and electroencephalographic responses: A critical discussion. European Journal of Neuroscience. 41(5):631-640. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.12833
Deike S, Heil P, Böckmann-Barthel M, Brechmann A. 2015. Decision making and ambiguity in auditory stream segregation. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 9(JUL). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2015.00266
2014
Peterson AJ, Irvine DRF, Heil P. 2014. A model of synaptic vesicle-pool depletion and replenishment can account for the interspike interval distributions and nonrenewal properties of spontaneous spike trains of auditory-nerve fibers. Journal of Neuroscience. 34(45):15097-15109. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0903-14.2014
Heil P. 2014. Auditory Nerve Response, Afferent Signals. in Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. New York: Springer. S. 1-3. https://doi.org/I 10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_424-6
Heil P. 2014. Towards a unifying basis of auditory thresholds: Binaural summation. JARO - Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology. 15(2):219-234. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-013-0432-x
2013
Matysiak A, Kordecki W, Sieluzycki C, Zacharias N, Heil P, König R. 2013. Variance stabilization for computing and comparing grand mean waveforms in MEG and EEG. Psychophysiology. 50(7):627-639. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12047
Pohl NU, Slabbekoorn H, Neubauer H, Heil P, Klump GM, Langemann U. 2013. Why longer song elements are easier to detect: Threshold level-duration functions in the Great Tit and comparison with human data. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology. 199(3):239-252. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-012-0789-z
Heil P, Verhey JL, Zoefel B. 2013. Modelling detection thresholds for sounds repeated at different delays. Hearing Research. 296:83-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2012.12.002
Heil P, Neubauer H, Tetschke M, Irvine DRF. 2013. A probabilistic model of absolute auditory thresholds and its possible physiological basis. in Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. S. 21-29. (Advances in experimental medicine and biology). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1590-9_3
Zoefel B, Heil P. 2013. Detection of near-threshold sounds is independent of eeg phase in common frequency bands. Frontiers in Psychology. 4(MAY). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00262
2012
Zacharias N, König R, Heil P. 2012. Stimulation-history effects on the M100 revealed by its differential dependence on the stimulus onset interval. Psychophysiology. 49(7):909-919. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2012.01370.x
Budinger E, Heil P. 2012. Anatomy of the auditory cortex. in Listening to Speech: An Auditory Perspective. Taylor & Francis Group. S. 91-113. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203933107
Deike S, Heil P, Böckmann-Barthel M, Brechmann A. 2012. The build-up of auditory stream segregation: A different perspective. Frontiers in Psychology. 3(OCT). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00461
2011
Heil P, Neubauer H, Irvine DRF. 2011. An improved model for the rate-level functions of auditory-nerve fibers. Journal of Neuroscience. 31(43):15424-15437. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1638-11.2011
Zacharias N, Sieluzycki C, Kordecki W, König R, Heil P. 2011. The M100 component of evoked magnetic fields differs by scaling factors: Implications for signal averaging. Psychophysiology. 48(8):1069-1082. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01183.x
Brechmann A, Brosch M, Budinger E, Heil P, König R, Ohl F, Scheich H. 2011. Auditory cortex - Current concepts in human and animal research. Hearing Research. 271(1-2):1-2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2010.10.016
2010
Heil P, Neubauer H, Irvine DRF. 2010. A new model for the shapes of rate-level functions of auditory-nerve fibers. in Proceedings of the 20th International Congress on Acoustics. S. 3156-3163.
Zacharias N, Sieluzycki C, Matysiak MA, König R, Heil P. 2010. Relevant observations for averaging stimulus evoked magnetic fields across trials and across subjects. in 17th International Conference on Biomagnetism Advances in Biomagnetism. S. 179-182. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12197-5_39
Heil P, Neubauer H. 2010. Summing across different active zones can explain the quasi-linear Ca 2+-dependencies of exocytosis by receptor cells. Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience. 2 Article 148(NOV):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsyn.2010.00148
- Teaching
Teaching
Prof. Dr. Peter Heil is involved in the education of students of the Master's program “Integrative Neuroscience” at OVGU Magdeburg.