Abstract: Communicating in social settings relies on the ability to focus on a relevant sound amid competing sources—for example, following a dinner conversation at a crowded restaurant. In healthy listeners, volitional, top-down goals and involuntary, bottom-up interruptions interact to prioritize behaviorally important sounds while maintaining situational awareness. In noisy environments, predictive processes can support this effort by helping listeners parse complex auditory scenes. This talk reviews behavioral and neurophysiological research on the brain networks engaged during auditory attention, with a focus on how bottom-up interruptions disrupt top-down focus and how expectation and learning help stabilize it. Together, these findings highlight how top-down and bottom-up attention, memory, and experience interact to support robust communication in everyday environments.

Biography: Barbara is an auditory neuroscientist who combines behavioral, neuroimaging, and computational methods to understand how listeners communicate in everyday environments. She currently serves as the Glen de Vries Dean of Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). A Professor in CMU’s Neuroscience Institute, she also holds courtesy appointments in Psychology, Biomedical Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering. She is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. She has received ASA’s Helmholtz-Rayleigh Interdisciplinary Silver Medal, the Brown Engineering Alumni Medal, and research fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Whitaker Foundation, and the Vannevar Bush Fellows program. Her mentorship has been recognized by the ASA and the Society for Neuroscience.

Abstract: Children with prenatal risk factors may be at risk for compromised neural function than can impact development of processes dependent on intact neural function. The primary focus of this presentation will be on results of an ongoing, longitudinal study of auditory physiologic responses from the brainstem to cortex and an extensive battery of language and cognitive measures in children with prenatal Zika virus exposure. A particular focus of this work is on identification of those children without overt characteristics of viral exposure sequalae who remain at potential risk. The value of longitudinal datasets, well-characterized peripheral function, sensitive assays, and a comprehensive battery of measures will be highlighted.

Biography: Linda J. Hood, Ph.D., is a Professor and Hearing Scientist in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences and Director of the Auditory Physiology Laboratory at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Dr. Hood’s research career, supported primarily by research grants from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) focuses on auditory physiology in peripheral and central systems across the lifespan, auditory neuropathy, efferent auditory function, hereditary hearing loss, and comparative hearing studies. Her research is reflected in peer-reviewed scientific publications, textbooks, chapters, invited review articles, and numerous scientific presentations at national and international venues. Dr. Hood participates in review panels of the NIDCD, the World Health Organization, and is an Associate Editor for the journal Ear and Hearing. Dr. Hood is a Past President of the American Academy of Audiology, the American Auditory Society, and the International Society of Audiology. She has served as an Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland, Australia, a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong, and an International Key Scientist with the Australian Hearing Collaborative Research Centre. Dr. Hood has received the Honors of the Association from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the Jerger Career Award for Research in Audiology from the American Academy of Audiology, the Hallowell Davis Lectureship from the International Evoked Response Audiometry Study Group, the Aram Glorig Award from the International Society of Audiology, and the Life Achievement Award from the American Auditory Society.

Abstract: Auditory computational models are algorithmic frameworks that simulate how sounds are processed by the auditory nervous system to produce perception. In other words, models are testable working hypotheses about how the anatomy and physiology of the auditory system explain psychoacoustical observations. Models serve to elucidate key physiological processes, acoustic cues, and other factors that determine perception. Beyond their theoretical significance, models may be used as tools to improve audiological diagnosis and treatment. In this presentation, I will review over three decades of research dedicated to the development of auditory models. I will describe our efforts to leverage these models to improve hearing aids and cochlear implants. Finally, I will discuss approaches for developing models that account for listener-specific differences in perceptual outcomes, thereby supporting their successful application in the emerging field of “precision audiology”.

Biography: Enrique A. Lopez-Poveda is a Professor of Audiology and Director of the Auditory Computation and Psychoacoustics Laboratory at the University of Salamanca (USAL). He holds a BSc in Physics (USAL) and a PhD in Hearing Science from Loughborough University (UK). He is the author of three books, three patents, and over 110 publications on hearing sciences. He has been on the editorial board of JASA, JARO, Trends in Hearing, and Ear and Hearing. He has been honored with the Cross of Naval Merit (1999), the Salamanca Convention Bureau Ambassadors Award (2013), the USAL Alumni Award (2013), the Medical Award of the Spanish Federation of Associations of Cochlear Implantees (2022), the María de Maeztu Award for Scientific Excellence from USAL (2023), and the II Enrique Salesa Batlle National Audiology Award (2024). He is a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, and the International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology.