Auditory Neuroscience and Speech Recognition Lab (Dr. Lee Miller)
The Miller Laboratory is located in the Center for Mind & Brain at the University of California, Davis. We are dedicated to understanding the neural bases of auditory perception and speech recognition. Our techniques allow us to take "pictures" of people's brain activity while they perceive speech or other stimuli. We learn how different parts of the brain cooperate to achieve perception - especially in noisy environments - and what happens when comprehension fails.
Why we're here
Countless normal listeners have trouble understanding speech in noisy environments. Unfortunately, certain special populations have even greater difficulty, such as the learning-impaired, autistics, and hearing-aid/ cochlear-implant users. By far the most numerous are those with hearing loss, now numbering 30 million Americans and half a billion worldwide. Depression, loneliness, and social anxiety are common conditions afflicting those (particularly older adults) who suffer this reduced ability to communicate. Untreated hearing loss in the U.S. costs tens of billions of dollars annually. The human costs are immeasurable.
Results from our research may lead to practical solutions such as: improved audiological diagnosis and targeting, improved hearing-device design (wearable aids and implants), better speech recovery after device fitting, improved training on listening strategies, and enhanced social integration among special populations. Our research is made possible by the generous support of the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Click here if you'd like to participate in one of our studies.
Dr. Ron Mangun to serve as Interim Dean