Jonathan J Art, PhD
Professor
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Contact
Building & Room:
CMW 509
Office Phone:
Fax:
Email:
Interests Heading link
Electrophysiological and optical recording of hair cell physiology in the auditory and vestibular systems
About
My research focuses primarily on the biophysics of the auditory and vestibular systems. I use biophysical, electrophysiological, and optical techniques to characterize the cellular properties responsible for hearing and balance. My work has characterized how the brain controls the sensitivity of the ear, and how proteins in the receptor cells in the auditory system tune each to a specific frequency of sound. My most recent work focuses on the network properties in the ear, and how information from multiple cells is integrated to detect velocity and acceleration in the vestibular system. I am expert in advanced imaging. My inventions are primarily in electronics and optics. Electronics: (1) Analog, CCD-based computer of average transients. (2) Digital video-rate computer of average transients. (2) High impedance microelectrode electrometers compensated for high capacitance input loads. (3) Switch-clamp electrometers for microelectrode voltage-clamp. (4) Ultra-low noise single-channel and whole-cell patch-clamp electrometers. Optics: (1) Diode arrays for detecting sub-nanometer cellular motion using visible light. (2) Photon counting for laser–scanning confocal microscopy, LSCM. (3) Reflected transmission confocal microscopy for LSCMs; (4) Multi-rate-scanning confocal microscopy at rates between one and 240 frames/second. (5) First public disclosure that high-sensitivity PMTs for confocal microscopes could be obtained by implementing GaAsP photocathode PMTs, yielding quantum efficiencies in excess of 40% (these are now the industry standard).