Welcome to the Spectrum Brain Lab
Individuals on the autism spectrum or with other neurodevelopmental differences vary from neurotypical individuals in aspects of their sensory perception, social communication, attention, and other cognitive processes. The scientific objective of the Spectrum Brain Lab is to advance understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying these various processes in order to facilitate the development of mechanism-informed supports and interventions. Our group uses electrophysiology, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological testing to explore of mechanisms of sensory perception and cognition in autism, ADHD, and fetal alcohol syndrome.
Emily Knight, M.D., Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Projects
- Investigating neurophysiologic mechanisms of auditory processing disorder in autism
- Developing novel virtual reality paradigms to test audiovisual integration in autism, ADHD, and fetal alcohol syndrome using more naturalistic stimuli
- Assessing visual attention to simple and complex audiovisual stimuli
- Designing and evaluating the usage of a VR game in training attention
- Working with self-advocates to learn about sensory processing experiences
Publications
View All Publications- AV-Play: Co-Designing VR Games to Study Audiovisual Integration in Children with ADHD; CHI '26: Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2026 Jan 01.
- "The School Cafeteria Problem": Disrupted Visuospatial Attention During Multisensory Speech-in-Noise Perception in Children with ADHD.; bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology. 2025 Nov 12.
- When the Lights Go Out: Studying Sex Differences in Sleep Latency, Sleep Quality, and Social Behavior in Captive Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) Over a 24-h Period.; American journal of primatology; Vol 87(11), pp. e70098. 2025 Nov.
- Severely attenuated visual feedback processing in children on the autism spectrum.; The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 2023 Feb 27.
Resources
Looking for more information about diagnosis or support?
Visit our Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Clinic page or the Autism Science Foundation .
Want to dive deeper into a broader range of autism research?
Visit Spectrum by The Transmitter for an introduction to autism neuroscience research.
Contact Us
Spectrum Brain Lab,
430 Elmwood Ave,
UR CABIN
Rochester, NY 14620
EmilyJ_Knight@URMC.Rochester.edu
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