Voice, music, and auditory brainstem response

This project aims to study the brainstem as one of the gateways that allows socially-relevant auditory information to pass to further analysis by higher cognitive functions, including multi-modal areas supporting recognition of emotion, intentions, and mental states. Our working hypothesis is that information carried by sound structures, in particular vocalisations, contributes to the rapid formation of a background context, within which language, gestures, or other forms of communication are understood. One implication is that poor analysis of this information at the level of the brainstem will result in a less complete context, making the interpretation of language and other codified communication more difficult.