Neural Mechanisms Underlying Linguistic Context Use for Speech Processing in Aging

Speech signals are often acoustically ambiguous between multiple interpretations. This is exacerbated by the presence of background noise, and hearing disorders. A common strategy that listeners use in such situations is to use the linguistic context to fill in gaps in comprehension. The goal of this project is developing and testing explicit models of context use in continuous speech, how context use changes with age, and how it interacts with hearing loss. To test these models we will collect EEG and fMRI data, together with a range of cognitive and hearing related measures.

We are looking for a full-time research assistant to lead the implementation of the experiments and data collection. We are also looking for a post-doc and graduate students interested in all aspects of this research, including: implementation of computational models for context use, language models and their relationship to human speech processing, cognitive aging, auditory neuroscience, and neuroimaging (EEG, functional and structural MRI).

The researchers will be part of multidisciplinary team including experts in Neuroscience, Hearing and Speech, Hearing Technology, and Aging. Team members include Ian Bruce (McMaster), Emily Myers and Thomas Hinchey (UConn) and Samira Anderson (U Maryland).

Openings:

• Full-time Research Assistant (Job ID 66171): this position could be ideal for a recent graduate with a Bachelor’s degree who would like to gain more experience before applying for graduate school; the initial offer is for a year but with potential for renewal; please feel free to reach out with questions
• The Post-Doctoral Fellow position is posted with Job ID 66366
• Candidates for the PhD program can reach out to me to discuss suitability (we have rolling admissions and do not get notified automatically of formal applications)

This project is funded by NIH.