Auditory Sciences: Perception of Complex Sounds

The overarching goal of our laboratory is to understand how complex natural sounds, such as human speech, music and animal vocalizations, are detected and recognized by the brain.  We study the nature of the communication signals used by humans (speech and music) and animals using behavioral and statistical approaches. We study the auditory system of humans and songbirds using neurophysiological techniques. We use computational methods to generate theories of audition, to study sounds and to analyze our neural data.

Our working hypothesis is that the dimensions that define the auditory perceptual space (such as pitch, timbre and loudness) exist because they correspond to acoustical features that provide robust cues about the information present in the communication signal.  We are attempting to prove this hypothesis by analyzing the statistics of natural sounds and by performing various behavioral studies in humans and animals.  In parallel we are studying the computations performed by the auditory system that can extract the acoustical cues that correspond to these auditory percepts. Finally, we are interested in the role of experience in shaping our auditory perceptual abilities and on the development of our auditory system.

These investigations have led us to study the nature of the speech signal, to examine the perceptual space of timbre, to study the vocal communication system in non-human animals, to record the activity of auditory neurons in songbirds and to examine auditory responses in the human brain using imaging techniques.  Additional details and a synopsis of current results can be found on the lab website.