Research

Music and speech perception are core human experiences that require complex processing involving multiple interacting neural systems. This processing of starts as early as the cochlea and can be traced through the brainstem, thalamus, auditory cortex, and across the cortex including temporal, parietal and frontal lobes. My research aims to uncover how these systems interact to produce the experience of perceiving music and speech, and to understand the commonalities in processing between these two auditory sensory experiences. The findings of this work can then be applied to understanding auditory and speech processing disorders, as well as ADHD which often includes difficulties in rhythm and timing processing.

I primarily use electroencephalography (EEG) for cortical and subcortical event related potentials (ERP) to capture high temporal resolution neural responses, and time-frequency measures to show changes in oscillatory activity to characterize network dynamics. I also employ transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), as well as behavioral methods for this research.