Our lab seeks to understand the neural substrate of speech motor control and the role of sensory feedback in this process. We currently have projects using computational modeling, psychophysical investigations, and functional neuroimaging that examine auditory feedback’s role in the learning and maintenance of speech, as well as the online control of speech. A major focus of the lab is determining the role of auditory feedback in speaking by examining how speakers respond to realtime alterations of their audio feedback. Another major focus is using functional neuroimaging, especially magnetoencephalography (MEG), as well as electrocorticography (ECoG) to study how auditory feedback is processed during speaking.

As a result of our research on auditory feedback in speaking, We have developed a computational model of the speech motor control system based on modern state-space control theory, which is also currently being investigated in the lab. Finally, we are also conducting studies where speaking, or the processing of auditory feedback during speaking, is altered by various neurological dysfunctions. We have conducted research on speech feedback processing in stuttering, Schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, and, currently, we are investigating how auditory feedback processing may be impaired in Spasmodic Dysphonia an Alzheimer’s disease.