Research Interest: Vestibular Sensory System of the Inner Ear

Dr. Platt's research deals with the structure and function of the inner ear of vertebrates. The vestibular labyrinth contains sensory organs that detect gravity and other accelerations, and are used for control of posture and locomotion. Fish are useful models because they lack the sophisticated head-neck-body or the limb-loading reflexes found in terrestrial animals.

Currently, Dr. Platt is studying local structural and ultrastructural specializations of the vestibular end-organs in teleost and elasmobranch fishes. Regional structural differences have been suggested to reflect functional differences in detecting amplitude, frequency, or direction of stimuli. Here fish provide an interesting case because many species use their otolith organs for hearing as well as balance, since they lack a specialized cochlea in the ear for audition. Dr. Platt also is interested in both peripheral and central patterns of the nerves that innervate these organs. If one could learn how these signals are differentiated within the inner ear and the brain, one would better understand the fundamental principle of how the brain can label, separate and process information in different pathways.

Dr. Platt's research is done at UMCP in collaboration with Dr. Arthur N. Popper.

Representative Publications

Popper, A.N., Platt, C. and Edds, P.L., Evolution of the vertebrate inner ear: an overview of ideas. In: D.B. Webster, R.R. Fay and A.N. Popper (eds.), The Evolutionary Biology of Hearing, Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 49-57 (1992)

Lombarte, A., Yan, H.Y., Popper, A.N., Chang, J.S. and Platt, C., Damage and regeneration of hair cell ciliary bundles in a fish ear following treatment with gentamicin. Hearing Res. 64, 166-174 (1993)

Platt, C., Zebrafish inner ear sensory surfaces are similar to those in goldfish. Hearing Res. 65, 133-140 (1993)