Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Towards Understanding And Improving Speech Processing, Sonia Yasmin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation explores mechanisms for understanding and improving speech processing. First, I used EEG to investigate the acoustic and semantic processing of continuous naturalistic speech masked by multi-talker babble. I found that different features of the same speech signal are reflected in different aspects of the neural tracking response, which are themselves differentially affected by noise. These findings point to a complex relationship between speech intelligibility and neural speech encoding.

Next, I systematically reviewed the current advancements in speech enhancement technologies. I find that speech enhancement algorithms are limited in their generalizability to speech-noise (i.e., babble). I demonstrate that, for …

Frontoparietal Circuitry Underlying Saccade Control In The Common Marmoset, Janahan Selvanayagam

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Our visual world is full of far more stimuli than can be processed simultaneously. Yet we are able to efficiently extract behaviourally relevant information from a scene, primarily by performing rapid saccadic eye movements. These processes are under the control the frontoparietal network, two critical nodes of which are: the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) and the frontal eye fields (FEF). Extensive research in the macaque has causally implicated these areas in visual attention and oculomotor control. However, the organization of the activity of single neurons in these areas across cortical layers remains poorly understood as these regions are deep within …

Outclimbing Cognitive Decline: Age, Western Diet, Resistance Exercise, And The Brain., Leila Dzinic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Increased age and obesity diminish motivation, perseverance, and spatial memory function. Aerobic exercise interventions have successfully rescued some of these processes. However, in older and heavier populations aerobic exercise is not as sustainable due to high risk of injury. Resistance exercise consists of physical activity where maximum oxygen consumption is not increased and has been proposed as a safe and effective intervention for this population. Here, we used touchscreen-based cognitive testing to elucidate the influence of resistance exercise on motivation and spatial memory in aged, diet-induced obese mice, using a water restriction procedure I develop in Chapter 2. Mice underwent …