Research Projects

Neural encoding of melody

What information is represented in the brain when we listen to melody, and how do these representations emerge from sound striking the ear? We combine data-driven machine-learning approaches with intracranial and scalp-based EEG recordings of brain activity to answer these questions.

Neural basis of musical pleasure

Why does music bring some people deep pleasure while leaving others—who perceive it just as well—largely unmoved? We study this variation by asking whether it originates in how faithfully the auditory cortex encodes musical information.

Music processing in Disorders of Consciousness

In collaboration with the coma lab at UCSF, we examine the neural encoding of music in patients with acute disorders of consciousness (DOC) following traumatic brain injury. DOC exist on a continuum, and accurate differential diagnosis is both essential to clinical management and strongly predicts patient outcomes. However, current bedside examination is imperfect. EEG monitoring of patients has shown that 15-20% of patients diagnosed with coma on bedside examination have evidence of brain responses to motor commands, bringing into question the very definition of consciousness. Harnessing music’s power as a modulator of arousal and mood, our long-term goal is to create music-based biomarkers for improved diagnosis and prognosis across impaired states of consciousness.

Ethics of emerging neurotechnologies

We examine the societal and ethical implications of emerging neurotechnologies, such as brain-computer interfaces that decode speech from auditory, motor, or semantic representations in the cortex.