Subject: Two jobs in auditory neuroscience From: Roy Patterson <roy.patterson(at)MRC-CBU.CAM.AC.UK> Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 15:17:54 +0100The Centre for the Neural Basis of Hearing in the Physiology Department of the University of Cambridge has two positions available in Auditory Temporal Processing and Perception Applications are invited from scientists interested in temporal processing in the auditory system from the cochlea to the cortex with emphasis on the relationship of temporal processing to auditory perception. At the CNBH, temporal processing includes everything from physiological recording in the brainstem to brain imaging in the cortex. The research is integrated through time-domain modelling of the perceptual consequences of the temporal processing. We have two specific jobs at present. The details are presented below in the initial flyers sent out last month when the positions first became available. This announcement provides the formal details.=20 Applicants should possess, or expect soon to possess, a Ph.D or equivalent degree in physiology, psychoacoustics, physics, engineering or computer science. Ideally, they should have post-graduate training in Hearing research and should understand computer synthesis and analysis of complex sounds. =20 Successful applicants would be expected to undertake research on temporal aspects of auditory perception and its relationship to the physiology of the auditory pathway from the cochlea to auditory cortex. Topics of particular interest are the physiology of temporal integration, and the perception of temporal asymmetry, temporal regularity and temporal dispersion of= transients. The appointment will be for three years in the first instance, and the post may, subject to the availability of funding, be renewed for a further period or periods. Appointment will be on the salary scale of =A316,286 to =A324,4= 79 with the starting salary dependent upon age and experience. The closing date for applications is Friday, 3 December, 1999.=20 For further information concerning the terms and conditions of employment, contact Ms. F. Duncan, the administrator of the Physiology Department, at the address above, or ring her on +44 1223 333826. Applicants should send a letter of application supported by a full curriculum vitae and the names and addresses of three referees to: Roy Patterson Centre for the Neural Basis of Hearing, Physiology Department, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EG, U.K. Email submission is acceptable and should be sent to Rdp1(at)cam.ac.uk Information about the research of the CNBH is provided on the web site=20 http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/personal/roy.patterson/cnbh The CNBH is supported by a programme grant and a co-operative group grant from the UK Medical Research Council. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Position 1 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D "Temporal Processing in the auditory system from cochlea to cortex" The project involves=20 1) development of a physiological gammachirp auditory filter (Irino and Patterson, 1997). 2) measurement and analysis of the responses of the primary projection neurons in the cochlear nucleus and inferior colliculus to sounds with varying temporal asymmetry (Patterson, 1994a, JASA) and varying temporal regularity (Yost et al., 1996; Patterson et al., 1996). 3) development of a physiological version of the auditory image (Patterson, 1994b) in the form of a two-dimensional array of dynamic time-interval histograms that will stabilise the repeating neural patterns produced in the auditory nerve by temporally regular sounds. 4) development of an auditory Mellin transform to extract source shape information from the auditory image independent of the size of the source or the pitch of the sound (Irino and Patterson, 1999, Eurospeech99). The successful candidate would need to be involved in at least two of these areas and could be involved in all four. The position arises from a Cooperative Group Grant awarded by the Medical Research Council to provide core funding for collaborative auditory research in the Cambridge area. (Roy Patterson and Ian Winter, Physiology Dept., Cambridge; Brian Moore, Experimental Psychology Dept., Cambridge; Ray Meddis, Psychology Dept., Essex). =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Position 2 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D A time-domain model of loudness for stationary, dynamic and multi-source= sounds Certain complex sounds produce the perception of multiple, simultaneous sources. Such sounds present difficult problems for traditional, spectral models of hearing, particularly when the perceived sources are associated with components that fall in the same frequency region. More recent, time-domain, models of hearing emphasise the auditory images produced by sounds and construct simulated images in which features of different sources appear in separate regions of the simulated auditory images. The task now is to extract the features and demonstrate that auditory images can be used for source segregation and analysis. We propose to begin with the problem of segregating complex tones and clicks from background noise, and to quantify the relative loudness of these components.=20 =20 The project involves (a) empirical determination of the partial loudness of the perceived sources in two sets of test stimuli (damped/ramped sounds and iterated rippled noise), (b) improving the accuracy of peripheral processing in the auditory image model (AIM) as part of the modelling programme at the Centre for the Neural Basis of Hearing, (c) calculating the partial loudness of the each perceived source from vectors in the auditory image, and (d) refining and developing the model by comparing the calculated partial loudness with the empirically measured partial loudness. This position arises from a Component Grant awarded by the Medical Research Council for the development of 'A time-domain model of loudness for stationary, dynamic and multi-source sounds.' (Roy Patterson, Physiology Dept., Cambridge; Brian Moore, Experimental Psychology Dept., Cambridge; Ray Meddis, Psychology Dept., Essex). __________________________________________________ Roy D. Patterson Centre for the Neural Basis of Hearing Physiology Department, University of Cambridge Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EG phone 44 (1223) 333819 office phone 44 (1223) 333837 lab fax 44 (1223) 333840 department email rdp1(at)cam.ac.uk =20 or email roy.patterson(at)mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/personal/roy.patterson/ http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/personal/roy.patterson/aim http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/personal/roy.patterson/cnbh