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Staff Profile

Professor Adrian Rees

Professor of Auditory Neuroscience

  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6956
  • Address: Biosciences Institute
    Faculty of Medical Sciences
    Â鶹´«Ã½
    Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne
    NE2 4HH
Background

Auditory neuroscience aims to understand how the brain processes information about sound. For many animals, hearing is important for keeping track of what's happening in their environment and for communication. For humans it underlies those most distinctively human attributes - speech and music. 

I study the brain pathways that underlie hearing; the chain of processing centres running from the ear to the cerebral cortex. I am to understand how these centres are organised and their role in processing sound using a diverse range of techniques, from recording and labelling single neurons to functional imaging and psychophysics in humans.

Other areas of interest include what underlies the generation of tinnitus (the perception of phantom sound) that blights the lives of its many suffers, and how hearing and vision interact.

Background

I graduated from Oxford University (Keble College) in Physiological Sciences and continued there first to gain my DPhil (supervised by Roy Kay), and then as Staines Medical Research Fellow at Exeter College. I left to spend two years as a Harkness Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh where I worked with Aage Møller. On my return to the UK, I joined Alan Palmer's lab at the MRC Institute of Hearing Research, Nottingham before being appointed to a lectureship in Physiological Sciences at Â鶹´«Ã½. I am currently in the Biosciences Institute where I am Professor of Auditory Neuroscience and director of the cross-faculty, Â鶹´«Ã½ Centre for Transformative Neuroscience. 

Esteem Factors

Joint winner of the 2010 George Davey Howells Memorial Prize for the Oxford Handbook of Auditory Science, a 3 volume survey of hearing science. Co-editor of Vol 2, The Auditory Brain.

Fellow of the Physiological Society

Societies

Association for Research in Otaryngology; British Neuroscience Association; Physiological Society; Society for Neuroscience


 


 

 

 



Research

A main focus of my lab is the functional organisation of the auditory midbrain, the inferior colliculus.  This paired structure is the centre where information from lower brainstem centres converges. We have explored how sound frequency is mapped within it, and, by blocking receptors for neurotransmitters, how excitatory and inhibitory synapses determine the responses of its neurons. We have discovered that nitric oxide signalling is important for mediating synaptic transmission by NMDA receptors in the inferior colliculus, and reported evidence suggesting that this pathway may be activated in tinnitus.

Another emphasis of our research is on the connections the inferior colliculus receives from higher centres of the brain, including many that are not at first glance concerned with sound.  This suggests that the sound processing in the mibrain is influenced by prior information from other systems that helps with sound identification. For example, feedback from the movement centres may help to distinguish external sounds from those generated by our own movements.  

My research has also addressed how modulations in the amplitude and frequency of sounds are extracted and encoded. These temporal fluctuations are fundamental features of natural sounds, such as vocalisations. The information they contain plays an important part in our ability to identify sounds and to separate one sound from another when many competing sounds occur together.  Information about modulation is one of the main sounds attributes available to cochlear implant users. Our analysis of the responses of neurons in the midbrain to such sounds shows that neurons are selective for specific ranges of modulation rate, and we have shown using fMRI that modulation rate, as well as sound frequency, is mapped in the inferior colliculus.


Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

  • PSC 3008  Physiology of the Nervous System (lecturer)
  • PSC 2012 Integrated Physiology (lecturer)
  • MBBS  Stage 2 (lecturer)
  • MBBS   Accelerated Programme (lecturer)
  • CMB 3000 Biomedical Sciences Project  (supervisor)

 

Postgraduate teaching 

  • MMB8019    MRes  Sensory Systems (lecturer)

 


Publications

  • Articles

    • Iskakova B, Forster LN, Mann KD, Brown M, Slack EL, Rees A, Pearce MS. . American Journal of Audiology 2023, 32(2), 500-506.
    • Olthof BM, Lyzwa D, Gartside SE, Rees A. . Hearing Research 2022, 424, 108585.
    • Gretenkord S, Olthof BMJ, Stylianou M, Rees A, Gartside SE, LeBeau FEN. . European Journal of Neuroscience 2020, 52(2), 2915-2930.
    • Othof BMJ, Gartside SE, Rees A. . Journal of Neuroscience 2019, 39(5), 876-887.
    • Olthof BMJ, Rees A, Gartside SE. . Journal of Neuroscience 2019, 39(45), 8916-8928.
    • Vuong QC, Laing M, Prabhu A, Tung HI, Rees A. . Scientific Reports 2019, 9, 7605.
    • Gretenkord S, Rees A, Whittington MA, Gartside SE, Lebeau FEN. . Journal of Neurophysiology 2017, 117(3), 1126-1142.
    • Poirier C, Baumann S, Dheerendra P, Joly O, Hunter D, Balezeau F, Sun L, Rees A, Petkov CI, Thiele A, Griffiths TD. . PLoS Biology 2017, 15(5), 1-24.
    • Orton L, Papasavvas C, Rees A. . Journal of Neuroscience 2016, 36(16), 4470-4481.
    • Baumann S, Joly O, Rees A, Petkov CI, Sun L, Thiele A, Griffiths TD. . eLife 2015, 4, e03256.
    • Pearson F, Mann KD, Rees A, Davis A, Pearce MS. . Ear and Hearing 2015, 36(2), 185-190.
    • Laing M, Rees A, Vuong QC. . Frontiers in Psychology 2015, 6, 1440.
    • Orton LD, Rees A. . eLife 2014, 3, 1-17.
    • Palmer AR, Shackleton TM, Sumner CJ, Zobay O, Rees A. . Journal of Physiology 2013, 591(16), 4003-4025.
    • Pearson F, Mann KD, Nedellec R, Rees A, Pearce MS. . BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders 2013, 13, 9.
    • Orton LD, Poon PWF, Rees A. . Frontiers in Neural Circuits 2012, 6, 100.
    • Baumann S, Griffiths TD, Sun L, Petkov CI, Thiele A, Rees A. . Nature Neuroscience 2011, 14(4), 423-425.
    • Nasimi A, Rees A. . Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology 2010, 196(12), 889-897.
    • Overath T, Kumar S, Stewart L, von Kriegstein K, Cusack R, Rees A, Griffiths TD. . Journal of Neuroscience 2010, 30(6), 2070-2076.
    • Baumann S, Griffiths TD, Rees A, Hunter D, Sun L, Thiele A. . NeuroImage 2010, 50(3), 1099-1108.
    • Liu JD, Perez-Gonzalez D, Rees A, Erwin H, Wermter S. . Neurocomputing 2010, 74(1-3), 129-139.
    • Malmierca MS, Hernández O, Antunes FM, Rees A. . Journal of Comparative Neurology 2009, 514(3), 226-239.
    • Coote EJ, Rees A. . Neuroscience 2008, 154(1), 218-225.
    • Hernandez O, Rees A, Malmierca MS. . NeuroReport 2006, 17(15), 1611-1614.
    • Malmierca MS, Hernandez O, Rees A. . European Journal of Neuroscience 2005, 21(10), 2701-2710.
    • Millman RE, Green GGR, Lorenzi C, Rees A. . Hearing Research 2003, 178(1-2), 1-11.
    • Witton C, Simpson MIG, Henning GB, Rees A, Green GGR. . Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2003, 113(1), 468-477.
    • Bal R, Green GGR, Rees A, Sanders DJ. . Neuroscience Letters 2002, 317(1), 42-46.
    • Griffiths TD, Dean JL, Woods W, Rees A, Green GGR. . Hearing Research 2001, 154(1-2), 165-169.
    • Lorenzi C, Simpson MIG, Millman RE, Griffiths TD, Woods WP, Rees A, Green GGR. . Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2001, 110(5), 2470-2478.
    • LeBeau FEN, Malmierca MS, Rees A. . Journal of Neuroscience 2001, 21(18), 7303-7312.
    • LeBeau FEN, Malmierca MS, Rees A. . The Journal of Neuroscience 2001, 15, 7303-7312.
    • Chinnery PF, Elliott C, Green GR, Rees A, Coulthard A, Turnbull DM, Griffiths TD. . Brain 2000, 123(1), 82-92.
    • Witton C, Green GGR, Rees A, Henning GB. . Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2000, 108(4), 1826-1833.
    • Griffiths TD, Green GGR, Rees A, Rees G. . Human Brain Mapping 2000, 9(2), 72-80.
    • Griffiths TD, Green GGR, Rees A, Rees G. . Human Brain Mapping 2000, 9(2), 72-80.
    • Talcott J, Witton C, McClean M, Hansen PC, Rees A, Green GGR, Stein JF. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States 2000, 97(6), 2952-2957.
    • Talcott JB, Witton C, McLean MF, Hansen PC, Rees A, Green GGR, Stein JF. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2000, 97(6), 2952-2957.
    • Griffiths TD, Rees A, Green GGR, Rees G. . NeuroImage 1999, 9(6), S791-.
    • Talcott JB, Witton C, McClean M, Hansen PC, Rees A, Green GGR, Stein JF. . NeuroReport 1999, 10(10), 2045-2050.
    • Rees A., Sarbaz A., Malmierca M.S. and Le Beau F. Regularity of spike discharge in the inferior colliculus. Journal of Neurophysiology 1997, 77, 2945-2965.
    • Malmierca M.S., Le Beau F. and Rees A. The topographical organisation of descending projections from the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus. Hearing Research 1996, 93, 167-180.
    • Le Beau F., Rees A. and Malmierca M.S. The contribution of GABA- and glycine mediated inhibition to the monaural temporal response properties of neurons in the inferior colliculus. Journal of Neurophysiology 1996, 75, 902-919.
    • Rees A. Sensory maps: aligning maps of auditory and visual space. Current Biology 1996, 6, 955-958.

  • Book Chapters

    • Rees A. . In: Grothe B, ed. The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference Volume 2: Audition. Amsterdam: Elsevier, Academic Press, 2021, pp.566-600.
    • Rees A, Orton LD. . In: Kandler, K, ed. The Oxford Handbook of the Auditory Brainstem. Oxford University Press, 2018.
    • Rees A, Langner G. . In: Winer, J.A., Schreiner, C, ed. The Inferior Colliculus. New York: Springer, 2005, pp.346-376.
    • Thornton SK, Rees A. . In: Breebart, DJ; Houstma, AJM; Kohlrausch, A; Prijs, VF; Schoonhoven, R, ed. Physiological and psychophysical bases of auditory function: proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Hearing. Maastricht: Shaker Verlag, 2001, pp.298-305.

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

    • Vuong QC, Parikh JD, Laing M, Blamire AM, Rees A. . In: Organisation of Human Brain Mapping OHBM 2016 Annual General Meeting. 2016, Geneva: Organization for Human Brain Mapping.
    • Malmierca MS, Hernandez O, Falconi A, Lopez-Poveda EA, Merchan M, Rees A. . In: Experimental Brain Research: Scientific Meeting on Central Auditory Processing - Integration with Other Systems. 2003, Ascona, Switzerland: Springer.

  • Edited Book

    • Rees A, Palmer AR, ed. . Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2010.

  • Reviews

    • Rees A, Malmierca MS. . International Review of Neurobiology 2005, 70, 299-330.
    • Rees A, Malmierca MS. . International Review of Neurobiology: Auditory Spectral Processing 2005, 70, 299-330.
    • Joris PX, Schreiner CE, Rees A. . Physiological Reviews 2004, 84(2), 541-577.
    • Griffiths TD, Rees A, Green GGR. . Neurocase 1999, 5(5), 365-378.