Research

My research agenda runs along two directions:

How do stimulus processing and representations vary along the ascending auditory neural pathway from the ear to the cortex? How do these change in the case of hearing impairment, such as hearing with cochlear implants, in one ear and in both ears? What are the long-term compensations observed at the brainstem and the auditory cortex in processing speech and music, in cochlear implant users?

In normal hearing it is observed that hearing and cognition influence each other bidirectionally over the lifespan. However, it is unclear what the underlying mechanisms are. Moreover, it is also not clear how these mechanisms change with hearing impairment, such as long-term users of cochlear implants. I investigate how prolonged changes in hearing influence higher cognitive functions, such as working memory, by way of the compensatory changes that occur in adjusting to the hearing impairment.