Assoc. Prof. of Elec. and Comp. Eng.
Weldon School of Biomed. Eng.
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN
Personal website
profile date: sep '05
My doctoral research used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to generate cortical surface maps of the acoustic frequency sensitivity in the human auditory cortex. Additional work conducted during this time period led to the demonstration that a clustered volume acquisition (CVA) sequence was more effective for imaging the auditory system than standard fMRI image acquisition sequences.
My research activities are directed at “auditory engineering,” a term intended to encompass both my functional neuroimaging and cochlear implant-related research activites. Functional neuroimaging activities are largely directed at enhancing our ability to use fMRI to interrogate the function and behavior of the auditory pathway. Cochlear implant-related research has focused on assessing the efficacy of simulations of cochlear implant electrical stimulation, with the primary goal being the improvement of such simulators to achieve the aim of examining long-term auditory pathway changes that arise from chronic presentation of the altered speech signal in cochlear implant users.
My extensive exposure to both the functional neuroimaging and auditory neuroscience realms during training in the SHBT program forms the foundation for nearly all of the research work I currently conduct. The breadth of my graduate education has enabled me to diversify my research to best utilize the skills possessed by my graduate students, allowing my research group to be effective even in cases where we have limited resources with which to conduct our work.
