Much of the research in our lab centers around prosody, the interpretation of intent based on vocal modulation through changes in perceived pitch, voice intensity, voice quality and speech rate. Prosody is an invaluable tool to attribute emotions to other’s voices. In our evolutionary past, perceiving prosody allowed our ancestors to determine friend or foe, securing […]
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Multimodal Neuroimaging of Prosody
Basic Research Questions: 1. How does the time-course of temporo-frontal reciprocal interactions during prosodic processing change when as affective prosodic intent varies in ambiguity? 2. How is functional connectivity within this temporo-frontal circuit, constrained by structural connectivity (i.e. Fiber pathway integrity)? We have adopted a multi-stage model of prosodic processing. Prior fMRI suggested that affective […]
Time, Causality, and Perception (TCP)
Basic Research Questions 1. How does the perception of time influence the attributions of causality in physical and social interaction? 2. Can stimulation of the frontal cortex using Transcranial Direct Stimulation (TDCS), and subsequent cognitive behavioral training alter the perception of temporal coincidence and by extension physical causality attributions in a sustained manner? 3. What are […]
Time Perception Antecedents for Linguistic and Social Cognitive Dysfunction
Basic Research Questions 1. To what extent does auditory time perception contribute to phonemic differentiation and prosodic recognition in healthy individuals? 2. How do impairments in time perception affect phonemic differentiation and prosodic recognition in schizophrenia? Language and social cognitive impairment figure prominently in schizophrenia psychopathology and are linked to both positive as well as […]
Abstracting Emotions Using Frequency Modulated Tones
Basic Research Questions 1. Are carrier frequency and modulation depth cues sufficient enough to convey prosodic intent? 2. Can this acoustic space be mapped in order to determine the existence regions of basic emotions? 3. To what degree do responses to these tones reflect the use of pitch in actual prosodic processing? Affective communication through […]
Loneliness, Social Connectedness, and Isolation
Basic Research Questions 1. Do individuals with schizophrenia have intact motivation to interact with others? 2. How does social communication relate to loneliness, desire for social connectedness, and actual isolation in both a healthy population and in schizophrenia? 3. How do these measures relate to clinical outcome? Humans have evolved highly complex social cognitive and […]
Rhythm and Amusia in Schizophrenia
Basic Research Questions 1. Do schizophrenia patients’ rhythmic performances vary in the presence of tonal changes within rhythmic sequences? 2. Would such rhythmic performance variations themselves vary by the subjects’ pitch perception acuity? 3. Does rhythmic performance contribute to schizophrenia dysprosodia? Perceiving social intent via vocal intonation (prosody) is profoundly impaired in schizophrenia. Recent studies […]
Automated Detection of Depression Using Prosody
Basic Research Questions 1. Can the analysis of prosodic cues be used as a reliable diagnostic tool? 2. Are these prosodic cues mimicked by the listener, i.e., can you detect a patient’s depression using prosodic cues from the clinician Approximately 20 million people suffer from psychiatric depression. This disease accounts for over 40,000 suicides in […]
Prosody-Centric Neuropsychological Connectome
Basic Research Questions 1. How do deficits in auditory and language abilities relate to prosody perception across different diagnoses? 2. Which neuropathic mechanisms impair prosodic perception in schizophrenia and how are these different from other diagnoses? 3. What are the optimal targets for treatment interventions to improve social communication impairments? Dysprodia, which is impairment in […]
Conversation and Collaboration
Basic Research Questions: 1. How do individuals with schizophrenia and Autism Spectrum Disorders establish joint attention with another individual to achieve a common goal? 2. How do these individuals form common conceptual ground? 3. Further, how do turn taking dynamics differ during conversation? Moment-by-moment coordination among conversational partners is necessary because for each utterance, […]
