Associate Professor Yiwen Zheng

Co-director of the Vestibular and Auditory Research Group in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at University of Otago. She is also a PI of the Brain Research NZ Centre of Research Excellence.

 

Her current research concerns two main areas. One is to investigate the CNS mechanisms of tinnitus and to develop effective treatment for tinnitus. The other is to investigate how the vestibular system, the balance organ in the inner ear, contributes to the integration of the sensory information by the hippocampus, a part of the brain known to be important in learning and memory.

Using a range of biochemical, electrophysiological and behavioural approaches, her tinnitus research focuses on understanding the underlying mechanisms of tinnitus and developing target-specific therapies by testing a range of drugs and brain stimulation techniques. My vestibular research aims at systematically investigating the importance of the vestibular information to higher cognitive function and illuminating the contribution that the vestibular system makes to spatial learning and memory.

Selected Publications