Systems Neuroscience of Auditory Perception Lab (SNAPlab)
Welcome to SNAPlab's home on the web! SNAPlab is part of the Department of Communication Science and Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh and is also affiliated with the Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, and the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. We are a team of auditory neuroscientists from diverse academic backgrounds (e.g., engineering, audiology, neuroscience, psychology, medicine) who study the biological computations and neural circuits that underlie auditory perception. In particular, we investigate how sound information is encoded and analyzed by our ears and brains in complex/noisy environments such as crowded restaurants and busy streets. By understanding not only successful hearing in these settings but also how listening can be disrupted for people with diverse forms of hearing loss and for those with neuropsychiatric conditions, we aim to advance precision diagnostics for hearing problems, and improve assistive devices such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and brain-machine interfaces. Our work is supported by generous funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) of the Department of Defense, and Hearing Health Foundation.