Dr. Daniel Polley holds the Amelia Peabody Chair in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Mass Eye and Ear. His research focuses on understanding the neural basis of sound perception, with a particular interest in disordered perception, difficulty understanding speech in noise, tinnitus (ringing of the ears), and hyperacusis.

Basic research projects in the Polley Lab leverage recent advances in two-photon calcium imaging, multi-channel electrophysiology, deep brain imaging, and optogenetics to measure and manipulate neural circuits in awake, behaving mice. His clinically oriented research makes use of EEG, pupillometry, and psychophysics to develop new diagnostics and treatment strategies for “hidden” hearing disorders in human subjects.

By studying the mechanisms and therapeutic potential of brain plasticity at the level of single cells all the way to clinical trials, the Polley Lab is pioneering new approaches to understand debilitating auditory perceptual disorders, for which there are no objective biomarkers, nor widely effective treatments.