Lab
37th and O Streets, N.W.
Washington DC 20057
Phone:
(202) 687-8842
Publications
Full Bio
Who I Am
I’m a neuroscientist, interested in the brain and its plasticity during development and aging. For well over a decade now, I have worked on how the human brain understands speech and music, why most animals can’t talk, and how the brain is changed by hearing loss and tinnitus.
A Selection of My Work
My Research
My research interests are centered on the functional organization and plasticity of the cerebral cortex. Research in his lab focuses on the neural basis of auditory perception and auditory-motor integration in speech and music. These studies are using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in humans. Parallel studies are conducted in nonhuman primates. This work is intended to lead to a deeper understanding of brain function and dysfunction in auditory processing and speech disorders, aphasia, agnosia and apraxia of speech. Research on hearing loss and tinnitus is aimed at understanding the brain mechanisms of this wide-spread disorder, and at the development of more intelligently designed hearing aids and neural prostheses.
My laboratory is also interested in the effects of sensory deprivation during brain development, relating to the question of how the brain of individuals with early blindness or deafness is adaptively reorganized through sensory substitution. These studies of brain plasticity also have relevance for the understanding of degenerative diseases of the brain, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
