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Postdoctoral, University of Calgary (auditory neuroscience)
Postdoctoral, Karolinska Institute (auditory neuroscience)
PhD, University of Toronto (auditory neuroscience)
MSc, University of Toronto (biomedical acoustics)
BSc, University of Toronto (biophysics)
Role at Salus University:
Osborne College of Audiology
Residential education
Basic science and clinical research
Pennsylvania College of Optometry
Residential education
PhD Program in Biomedicine
Distance education
Research Activities:
I am interested in the workings of the normal and impaired auditory system. Topics of special research interest include noise-induced hearing loss, central auditory plasticity induced by prolonged exposure to moderately loud noise, hyperacusis, tinnitus, and “auditory processing disorders”. I use both mice and men as research subjects.
Selected Representative Publications:
Pienkowski, M., Adunka, O., Lichtenhan, J. (2018). New advances in electrocochleography for clinical and basic investigation. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience (in press).
Pienkowski, M. (2018) Prolonged exposure of CBA/Ca mice to moderately loud noise can cause cochlear synaptopathy, but not tinnitus or hyperacusis as assessed with the acoustic startle reflex. Trends in Hearing 20: 1–18.
Pienkowski, M. (2017) On the etiology of listening difficulties in noise despite clinically normal audiograms. Ear & Hearing 38: 135–148.
Pienkowski, M. (2015) Music is good for your brain, but don’t blast it. Frontiers for Young Minds 3: 1–8.
Lau, C., Pienkowski, M., Zhang, J.W., McPherson, B., Wu, E.X. (2015) Chronic exposure to broadband noise at moderate sound pressure levels spatially shifts tone-evoked responses in the rat auditory midbrain. Neuroimage 122: 44–51.
Lau, C., Zhang, J.W., McPherson, B., Pienkowski, M., Wu, E.X. (2015) Functional magnetic resonance imaging of the adult rat central auditory system following long-term, passive exposure to non-traumatic acoustic noise. Neuroimage 107: 1–9.
Tyler, R.S., Pienkowski, M., Roncancio, E.R., Hyungjin-jun, J., Brozoski, T., Dauman, N., Coelho, C.B., Anderrson, G., Keiner, A.J., Cacace, A., Martin, N., Moore, B.C.J. (2014) A review of hyperacusis and future directions. Part I. Definitions and manifestations. American Journal of Audiology 23: 402–419.
Pienkowski, M., Tyler, R.S., Roncancio, E.R., Hyungjin-jun, J., Brozoski, T., Dauman, N., Coelho, C.B., Anderrson, G., Keiner, A.J., Cacace, A., Martin, N., Moore, B.C.J. (2014) A review of hyperacusis and future directions. Part II. Measurement, mechanisms, and treatment. American Journal of Audiology 23: 420–436.
Munguia, R., Pienkowski, M., Eggermont, J.J. (2013) Spontaneous firing rate changes in cat primary auditory cortex following long-term exposure to non-traumatic noise. Tinnitus without hearing loss? Neuroscience Letters 546: 46–50.
Pienkowski, M., Munguia, R., Eggermont, J.J. (2013) Effects of passive, moderate-level sound exposure on the mature auditory cortex: Spectral edges, spectrotemporal density, and real-world noise. Hearing Research 296: 121–130.
Pienkowski, M., Eggermont, J.J. (2012) Reversible long-term changes in auditory processing in mature auditory cortex in the absence of hearing loss induced by passive, moderate-level sound exposure. Ear and Hearing 33: 305–314.
Pienkowski, M., Eggermont, J.J. (2011) Cortical tonotopic map plasticity and behavior. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 35: 2117–2128.
Pienkowski, M., Eggermont, J.J. (2011) Sound frequency representation in primary auditory cortex is level-tolerant for low to moderate level, complex sounds. Journal of Neurophysiology 106: 1016–1027.
Jacob, S., Pienkowski, M., Fridberger, A. (2011) The endocochlear potential alters cochlear micromechanics. Biophysical Journal 100: 2586–2594.
Pienkowski, M., Munguia, R., Eggermont, J.J. (2011) Passive exposure of adult cats to bandlimited tone pip ensembles or noise leads to long-term response suppression in auditory cortex. Hearing Research 277: 117–126.
Pienkowski, M., Ulfendahl, M. (2011) Differential effects of salicylate, quinine and furosemide on guinea pig inner and outer hair cell function revealed by the input-output relation of the auditory brainstem response. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology 22: 104–112.
Eggermont, J.J., Munguia, R., Pienkowski, M., Shaw, G. (2011) Comparison of LFP-based and spike-based spectro-temporal receptive fields and cross-correlation in cat primary auditory cortex. PLoS ONE 6: e20046 (16 pages).
Pienkowski, M., Eggermont, J.J. (2010) Passive exposure of adult cats to moderate-level tone pip ensembles differentially decreases AI and AII responsiveness in the exposure frequency range. Hearing Research 268: 151–162.
Pienkowski, M., Eggermont, J.J. (2010) Nonlinear cross-frequency interactions in primary auditory cortex spectrotemporal receptive fields: A Wiener-Volterra analysis. Journal of Computational Neuroscience 28: 285–303.
Pienkowski, M., Eggermont, J.J. (2010) Intermittent exposure with moderate-level sound impairs central auditory function of mature animals without concomitant hearing loss. Hearing Research 261: 30–35.
Pienkowski, M., Eggermont J.J. (2009) Long-term, partially-reversible reorganization of frequency tuning in mature cat primary auditory cortex can be induced by passive exposure to moderate-level sounds. Hearing Research 257: 24–40.
Pienkowski, M., Eggermont, J.J. (2009) Effects of adaptation on spectrotemporal receptive fields in primary auditory cortex. Neuroreport 20: 1198–1203.
Chugh, B.P., Lerch, J.P., Yu, L.X., Pienkowski, M., Harrison, R.V., Henkelman, R.M., Sled, J.G. (2009) Measurement of cerebral blood volume in mouse brain regions using micro-computed tomography. Neuroimage 47: 1312–1318.
Pienkowski, M., Hagerman, B. (2009) Auditory intensity discrimination as a function of level-rove and tone duration in normal-hearing and impaired subjects: The “mid-level hump” revisited. Hearing Research 253: 107–115.
Pienkowski, M., Shaw, G., Eggermont, J.J. (2009) Wiener-Volterra characterization of neurons in primary auditory cortex using Poisson-distributed impulse train inputs. Journal of Neurophysiology 101: 3031–3041.
Noreña, A.J., Gourévitch, B., Pienkowski, M., Shaw, G., Eggermont J.J. (2008) Increasing spectrotemporal sound density reveals an octave-based organization in cat primary auditory cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 28: 8885–8896.
Pienkowski, M., Harrison, R.V. (2005) Tone responses in core versus belt auditory cortex in the developing chinchilla. Journal of Comparative Neurology 492: 101–109.
Pienkowski, M., Harrison, R.V. (2005) Tone frequency maps and receptive fields in the developing chinchilla auditory cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 93: 454–466.
James, A.L., Harrison, R.V., Pienkowski, M., Dajani, H.R., Mount, R.J. (2005) Dynamics of real time DPOAE contralateral suppression in chinchillas and humans. International Journal of Audiology 44: 118–129.