Speaking and Hearing: What marmosets can teach us about the sensory-motor control of voice and the origins of vocal communication

Research in our group focuses on the neural basis of vocal communication. Communication is a dynamic process that encompasses both production and perception, occurring in an interactive and contextually-dependent fashion. We approach this both through basic scientific model systems and through parallel experiments in human subjects, including patients with hearing and communication disorders. We are particularly interested in questions of vocal self-monitoring, that is, how do you hear yourself when you speak, how does your brain process that information differently than others sound you might hear, and how do you use this to help you control your voice. We also have interests in sensory processing in naturalistic environments, and how the brain encodes sound differently than when listening in more traditional laboratory testing. We are also interested in the role of social context and decision making in animal communication. Finally, we use comparative approaches to determine how these processes are conserved between animals and humans, and how they are affected by hearing loss and other disorders of vocal communication.

In addition to his research lab, Dr. Eliades is a clinician-scientist and Otolaryngologists, with a focus in diseases of the ear, hearing, and balance (Otology). As part of this role, he has research interests in cochlear implants, in particular the learning and plasticity that affects implant outcome. He also collaborates with other clinicians and investigators to apply quantitative analysis to understanding and categorizing disorders of hearing and balance.