Research Projects

Visual influences on auditory scene segregation and the formation of cross-modal objects

Visual stimuli can exert higher order influence on the way humans parse complicated auditory scenes and the neural computations that underlie it. Studies of selective listening with audio-visual stimuli typically use speech tasks, and studies that employ non-linguistic stimuli usually only use a single audio-visual stimulus, rather than competing ones.

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Oculomotor enhancements of auditory spatial perception

The perception of auditory space, derived primarily from binaural cues (i.e., combining information from both ears), is well studied and of paramount importance to segregating and selecting a target sound source in complex environments. Only a tiny portion of those studies have considered the direction of subjects’ eye-gaze, and the consideration given is usually just to provide a central fixation dot (or perhaps a blindfold).

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Auditory brainstem responses to natural stimuli

There are obvious differences between listening in a laboratory versus a cocktail party. Out of necessity, experiments often sacrifice realness for experimental control, reducing lively gatherings to clicks, beeps, and short spoken sentences.

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Diagnostic tests of auditory system health

Auditory selective attention is built on a complex neural signal processing system that spans cochlea to cortex. The vast majority of clinical work is focused on hearing loss in the cochlea. However, many individuals, such as those with (Central) Auditory Processing Disorders and some members of the aged population, are lost in noisy settings despite having normal hearing thresholds.

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