Abstract
Tracking a moving sound requires us to know the location of a sound at any given time point. This requires the ability to combine information about time and information about space, so that we can accurately predict the trajectory of the sound. Previous studies have suggested that space and time for auditory stimuli are processed separately and independently in the brain. For example, auditory spatial processing appears to be slower than temporal (time) processing.
Many studies have investigated visual and audiovisual tracking in space, but not many studies have investigated purely auditory location tracking. And even less have investigated where and how the brain is able to combine these two different types of auditory information so seamlessly and quickly. Are these processes working in parallel and then converging at some point, or are they being processed together throughout?
By manipulating spatial and temporal expectations of auditory patterns, together with EEG and eye-tracking measures, my PhD project will attempt to explore this topic. By testing healthy participants and those with focal lesions in the frontal cortex, as well as temporal and parietal cortices, this project aims to understand more how the brain is able to combine location and time information for moving sounds.
Bio
Saira is a PhD fellow in Cognitive Neuroscience at RITMO. She has a background in psychology with a BSc and MSc in Psychology from the University of Essex, after which she spent a few years working in a clinical setting with patients with various mental disorders, before going back and doing an MA in Cognitive Neuroscience at UiO .