IU

 

People

Principal Investigator  

Gavin M. Bidelman, PhD (CV) (PubMed) (Google Scholar) (Research Gate) is an auditory cognitive neuroscientist who uses neuroimaging and data science tools (EEG/ERPs, psychophysics, computational modeling, machine learning) to investigate foundational properties of auditory perception and cognition. The work includes elements of both basic research and clinically motivated inquiry. Lab studies proceed on three main fronts: (1) understanding the neurocomputations involved in the perception-cognition and novel learning of speech and musical sounds—with current emphasis on auditory categorization; (2) a neuroethological approach characterizing the upper bounds of brain plasticity via study of listeners with extraordinary auditory expertise (e.g., musicians, bilinguals); and translational work (3) examining changes in neurophysiological coding across the lifespan in both normal and clinical populations (hard of hearing, mild cognitive impairment). The lab is funded by the NIH/NIDCD.  

 

PhD students   

 

 

Jessica MacLean,MM, MT-BC, joined the lab in Fall 2022 as a dual PhD student in SLHS and Neuroscience at Indiana University. She holds a Master of Music in Music Therapy with Undergraduate Equivalency (University of Miami) and a Bachelor of Science in Music (violin) with an Outside Field in Neuroscience (Indiana University). Most recently, Jessica served as core project manager for a multi-site R01 trial out of the IU School of Nursing in Indianapolis investigating biologic mechanisms of active music engagement in pediatric oncology (PI: Sheri Robb, PhD, MT-BC). She also worked as a research assistant in the Brainvolts Auditory Neuroscience Lab at Northwestern University (PI: Nina Kraus, PhD). Jessica’s research interests include clinical applications of music for speech and language outcomes with a focus on gaining deeper understanding of the associated neural mechanisms.

 

Rose Rizzi joined the lab in Fall 2021 and is currently a PhD candidate in SLHS and Neuroscience at Indiana University. She earned her B.S. in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience from Virginia Tech in 2020. As an undergraduate student, she worked as an intern at NASA Langley Research Center on community science engagement projects. Her doctoral research focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in speech perception in noise and speech categorization at auditory brainstem and cortical levels of processing.

 

Undergraduate students

Zara Eisenhut joined the lab in Fall 2024 as an undergraduate student studying Human Biology. Zara is in the Cox Research Scholars program at IU.

Jack Stirn joined the lab in Fall 2022 as an undergraduate student studying Neuroscience and Linguistics. Jack is in the Cox Research Scholars program at IU. His research interests include psycholinguistics, pragmatics, and speech perception. 

Serenity Seigel joined the lab in Spring 2024 as an undergraduate student studying Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences. Serenity is in the SLHS Honors Program at IU.

Rowan Zhou joined the lab in Summer 2024. Rowan is an undergraduate student studying Bassoon Performance at the Jacobs School of Music with an Outside Field in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences.

Alexandra Doty joined the lab in Fall 2024. She is an undergraduate in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

 

Lab Alumni