Faculty

The Abdala Lab studies the development and maturation of the human auditory system using otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). In recent years, the AbdaLab has also turned its attention to improving the power and performance of OAE-based diagnostic and screening tools.

The Applegate Lab uses a range of modern engineering tools to develop novel biophotonic technologies for point-of-care diagnosis and monitoring, as well as expanding the basic scientific understanding of human disease. The lab’s current primary application area is functional imaging of the middle and inner ears.

The Aziz-Zadeh Lab studies embodied representations, creativity, and language from a cognitive neuroscience perspective, using techniques including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

The Bottjer Lab studies vocal learning in songbirds as a model system for understanding mechanisms of neural development, learning and memory, and brain-behavior relationships. Current projects include investigating the contribution of specific neural circuits to distinct aspects of vocal learning and the role of auditory experience in sculpting neural circuits for vocal learning during sensitive periods of development.

The Byrd Lab studies speech production and articulation to understand how the skilled, sound-producing movements of the vocal tract are coordinated in time as a result of linguistic structuring. The lab uses cutting edge technology for tracking and imaging inside the mouth and throat during speech, including magnetometry and real-time MRI.

The Charaziak Lab studies the mechanics of cochlear function through direct and indirect measurements of inner-ear responses to sound in animal models. The lab combines the power of noninvasive tests, such as measurements of otoacoustic emissions or far-field electrical responses, with in vivo imaging to reveal how the cochlea processes dynamic sounds and how disruptions in this processing can be diagnosed.

The Crump Lab uses zebrafish to study how the huge diversity of vertebrate cell types are specified during development and then maintained in the right proportions as organisms grow and recover from insults. By combining the traditional genetic and imaging strengths of zebrafish with genome editing, the lab aims to uncover the regulatory logic of cell fate choices and identify novel genes that control development, repair, and regeneration.

The Dewey Lab studies the mechanical processes that underlie normal hearing and how these processes are affected in hearing impaired ears. Current topics of investigation include (1) how sound causes the structures within the cochlear spiral to vibrate, (2) how these vibrations are amplified by the sensory outer hair cells, and (3) how this amplification process leads to the emission of sound by the ear.

The Eisenberg Lab performs clinical research specific to pediatric hearing loss, auditory perception, and sensory devices. Primary research interests involve: (1) defining the auditory factors and their inter-relationships that underlie the development of spoken language competence in infants and young children with hearing loss; and (2) developing methods and assessment tools for measuring auditory capacity in children with hearing loss

The Gnedeva Lab studies how molecular signaling and tissue mechanics control embryonic sensory organ growth and how the developmental programs of self-renewal and differentiation can be re-initiated in the mammalian inner ear after damage. Although the focus is on restoration of hearing and balance, the lab has broader interests in the common mechanisms that suppress regeneration in specialized sensory tissues.

The Goldstein Lab studies articulatory phonology, a gesture-based approach to phonological and phonetic structure. The goal is to develop an explicit dynamical model of the “dance of the tongue,” analyzing the observed motion of the human vocal organs during speech using empirical, computational, and theoretical approaches. The construction of the dance is hypothesized to be central to the cognitive activities surrounding speech, “sound structure,” and reading: acquisition, perception, production, and breakdown in disease.

The Bionic Ear Lab combines psychoacoustics and signal processing to develop strategies for enhancing auditory perception for those with hearing loss. Current areas of investigation range from spatial beamformers modeled after binaural hearing to cochlear-implant stimulation strategies inspired by auditory-nerve physiology. The lab is also deeply involved with auditory rehabilitation.

The Habibi Lab takes a broad perspective on understanding child development. The lab is interested in how biological dispositions and childhood learning experiences, such as music training, shape the development of cognitive, emotional, and social abilities. The lab uses electrophysiological and neuroimaging methods to investigate human brain function, including the effects of long-term musical training on pitch and rhythm processing in musicians, non-musicians, and patients with auditory impairments.

The Kalluri Lab combines neurophysiology, cellular biophysics, and computational modeling to study the physical and physiological mechanisms underlying sensory transduction in the inner ear. The goal is to understand how disease and injury impair function.

The Mintz Lab studies the cognitive mechanisms that underlie language acquisition. One current line of research investigates the methods by which infants and very young children acquire fundamental syntactic knowledge about the language they are learning. Another line of work investigates how children learn the meanings of novel words. These varied research programs are connected by a common question about the mechanisms that give rise to linguistic abilities, and the effects of environmental input on these mechanisms.

The Narayanan Lab focuses on signals and systems modeling with an interdisciplinary emphasis on speech, audio, language, multimodal, and biomedical problems and applications with direct societal relevance. The lab’s technical contributions cover a range of applications in defense, security, health, education, media, and the arts.

The Oghalai Lab seeks to better understand the fundamental changes within the inner ear that underlie progressive hearing loss and to develop novel techniques to study and treat this problem before it worsens. Examples include the development of Volumetric Optical Coherence Tomography and Vibrometry (VOCTV), which permits in vivo imaging of inner-ear tissues with unprecedented resolution. Other research projects study how auditory neurons can be lost, and potentially rescued or restored, with aging or noise exposure.