Normal-hearing listeners have a remarkable ability to listen in noisy environments, while hearing-impaired listeners and automatic speech-recognition systems often have difficulty in noise. With the ultimate goal of improving hearing aids and speech-recognition systems, Dr. Bertrand Delgutte and I studied the neural mechanisms involved in one aspect of noisy-environment listening, “spatial release from masking,” which is the observation that a signal is more easily detected when its source is spatially separated from a masking-noise source. Using neurophysiology, computational modeling, and psychoacoustics to investigate the neural mechanisms of spatial release from masking, we created a computational neural model that successfully predicts both the neural responses and the human behavior.
My research investigates the intersection of neuroscience and signal processing, improving our understanding of neural processing and our ability to repair neural systems with electronic devices when they fail. My focus has largely revolved around the auditory system and hearing impairment, but I have recently begun to work on deep brain stimulation for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders.
As a post-doctoral fellow at Rice University , I worked with Dr. Don Johnson to improve hearing-aid performance in adverse listening environments by comparing normal and impaired neural responses. In this way, we determined when and how impairment affects the neural responses, and within the same framework, we objectively optimized hearing aid performance under a variety of acoustic conditions.
I have recently begun as a research scientist in the Emerging Indications group at Advanced Bionics, a subsidiary of Boston Scientific. Advanced Bionics specializes in neuromodulation devices, and the job of the scientists in the Emerging Indications is to find new ways in which neuromodulation can provide treatment for ailments such as deafness, chronic pain, incontinence, Parkinson's disease, and many others. My primary responsibility is currently to lead the development of a new device for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.I began the SHBT program with a desire to better understand the auditory system, especially how sound was processed by the brain. Through the program, I realized that, in addition to my fascination with the workings of the auditory system, I could use this knowledge to help listeners with hearing impairment. My clinical training in the SHBT program fostered my interest in building better devices for hearing impairment and other disorders, and my research and classroom training provided me the tools in both neuroscience and engineering necessary for my current research in a non-auditory field.
