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Auditory Perception and Learning Laboratory of Dr. Shaowen Bao |
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Our
research
goal is to understand sensory
processing. The way a stimulus is processed is not static. Instead, it
can be altered by experience. These adaptive changes are guided
presumably by certain principles. We try to elucidate these principles
by examining how experience alters sensory processing. For instance,
our auditory system becomes highly specialized for processing native
speech sounds in early infancy without explicit instructions. The
information that instructs such unsupervised learning is believed to be
embedded in the sensory input. Using developing auditory cortex of
model animals, we are trying to determine what information in the
acoustic input is important for normal development of sensory
representations and how the cortical circuit uses the information.
Sensory processing in adult animals can also be altered by perceptual
learning. We study cortical sound representations in adult animals that
have been trained to improve sound perception, and examine sensory
perception in animals whose cortical representations have been
artificially altered. By correlating representations and perception, we
try to delineate the neural correlates of perception. Ultimately, we
hope to extend our knowledge into unique human sensory processing, such
as that of speech and music, by examining human brains.
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Helen
Wills
Neuroscience
Institute
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132
Barker
Hall,
Berkeley,
CA
94720 |
