Themes

Theme 1: Developmental ACN (leader: Prof. Laurel Trainor)

Auditory function changes from infancy to late adulthood, and this theme addresses the neural and behavioural progression of those changes. Topics include: the role of neural activity in developmental auditory plasticity; age-related differences in auditory evoked responses, binaural processing, and auditory cortical activity; how infants develop categories from brief auditory experiences; changes in infants’ response to sound; effects of musical expertise on auditory cortical evoked fields in young children; and the development of listening skills in infants, toddlers and children. Mentors working in this axis offer a range of expertise with non-invasive techniques developed for use across the lifespan that trainees can acquire in internships and practica. 

Theme 2: Special Populations (leader: Prof. Isabelle Peretz)

This theme addresses the functional and genetic foundations of auditory disorders and the implications for treatment applications. Topics include musical dyslexia, auditory disorders, tinnitus and other auditory special populations; auditory and cognitive functions in congenital and acquired amusias, aphasia, autism and Alzheimer dementia; auditory functions in schizophrenia and related disorders; neuronal activity underlying sensory function in epilepsy, dementia, multiple sclerosis, and other brain disorders; auditory processing differences in tinnitus, and models of hearing loss and tinnitus based on peripheral auditory processing in the auditory nerve. Mentors working in this axis offer special training in behavioural and brain imaging techniques as applied to special auditory populations that trainees can acquire during internships and practica.

Theme 3: Neuroimaging Analysis (leaders: Professors Randy McIntosh & Robert Zatorre)

This theme addresses mathematical and statistical models for neuroimaging data. Topics include: statistical techniques for MEG (magnetoencephalographic) measurements of auditory brain function; quantitative imaging techniques, including magnetization transfer (MT) and quantitative analysis of sulcal patterning, to reveal brain anomalies; partial least squares applications to brain imaging data; transformations of MEG measures onto standardized sensor positions; anatomical measures and  their relationship to language lateralization; statistical imaging techniques for emotional response to sound. These important mathematical and statistical developments for determining structure-function mappings in human brains are critical for any auditory neuroscience trainee.

Theme 4: Sensorimotor Integration (leader: Prof. Caroline Palmer)

Most auditory experiences elicit a behavioural reaction; this theme addresses the integration of auditory information with other sensory information and subsequent movement. Topics include the integration of sound with motion; role of tactile and proprioceptive information; integration of auditory and visual information in audience response to music; robot-assisted force-field environments to study motor response to sound; cortical change produced by auditory-motor interactions; effects of auditory cues in vocal production; and gestural response to musical sound. These mentors use a variety of behavioural (motion capture, EMG, force fields) and neurological techniques (TMS, MEG) for measuring auditory-motor integration that trainees can learn during immersive internships and practica.