Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Speech-Evoked Brain Activity Is More Robust To Competing Speech When It Is Spoken By Someone Familiar, Brainscan , Western University, Ingrid Johnsrude

Research Summaries

The representation of spoken-sentence information in specific regions of the brain is more resistant to interference by competing speech if the target talker is familiar. The posterior temporal cortex represents information about target speech more robustly in the presence of competing speech when the target talker is a friend or partner. We have also shown that the relative robustness of the representations for a familiar, compared to an unfamiliar, voice aligns with the intelligibility benefit that the listener gains from that familiar voice.

Can Training Improve Speech Intelligibility And Voice Recognition?, Ingrid Johnsrude

Research Summaries

We found that people learn voices very rapidly. We are able to recognize a new voice (and distinguish it from other voices) accurately after as little as 10 minutes of training. While recognition of a voice seems to plateau quite quickly (our recognition doesn't improve with more training), intelligibility does keep improving as training continues up to one hour. We think the benefits of voice familiarity (such as improved intelligibility in everyday settings, helping people with hearing loss or jobs in noisy environments) can be achieved through deliberate training.

Open Neuroscience Initiative, Austin Lim

College of Science and Health Full Text Publications

The Open Neuroscience Initiative is a free-to-use textbook

This project began as a means to overcoming the financial burden that face undergraduate neuroscience students when buying textbooks. By compiling and writing a completely free-to-access textbook that covers the foundations of a typical college introduction to neuroscience course, students would have one less obstacle to overcome in their educational career, allowing them to focus their valuable time and attention on learning rather than finances. To make this project a reality, I began with a humble tweet in May 2019 that managed to gain a tiny bit of traction among the neuroscience …

Examining Neuroanatomical Effects Of Prenatal Valproic Acid And Postnatal Testosterone In A Mouse Model Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Bishakha Kumari, Elizabeth Ann Gordon, Cynthia Corbitt

Undergraduate Arts and Research Showcase

Sex differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are well documented; males are diagnosed 4:1 over females. Testosterone (T) is one factor that differs by sex in humans and mice that could increase vulnerability to developing ASD in males. Valproic acid (VPA) is an anticonvulsant that has been found to increase the risk of autism in male offspring of pregnant women who take it to control seizures and is commonly used in mouse models of ASD. After prenatal VPA or vehicle on embryonic day 13, testosterone (T) or vehicle was administered to the mice on postnatal day 2 to investigate whether …

Selective Gsk3b Deletion In Camk2a+ Forebrain Neurons Or Inhibition Via Tideglusib, Decreases Ethanol Consumption In C57bl/6j Mice, Sam Gottlieb, Andrew D. Van Der Vaart, Brennen O'Rourke, Michael F. Miles

Graduate Research Posters

Purpose: We previously identified glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (Gsk3b) as a central member of a gene network highly regulated by acute ethanol in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and associated with risk for alcohol dependence in humans. Further, we have demonstrated modulation of Gsk3b alters ethanol consumption in rodent models. GSK3B could thus represent a potential new therapeutic target for the treatment of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Here, we investigate the mechanisms of Gsk3b action in ethanol consumption and report preclinical evidence for the selective GSK3B inhibitor, tideglusib, as a therapeutic agent for AUD.

Methods: (1) Selective Cre-induced Gsk3b …