UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE            
       COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM       
                                                  
                     presents   
					                   
      "Decoding the neural processing of speech"                
                      				                        
              Dr. Tobias Reichenbach                   
                                                  
         (Department of Bioengineering,
		   Imperial College London)           
                                                  
                19 February 2020                  
                                                  
                  13:00 - 14:00                   
                                                  
          Hatfield, College Lane Campus           
                Seminar Room C152                 
                                                  
          Everyone is welcome to attend.          
         Refreshments will be available.          
		 
Abstract

Understanding speech in noisy backgrounds requires selective attention to a particular speaker. Humans excel at this challenging task, while current speech recognition technology still struggles when background noise is loud. The neural mechanisms by which we process speech remain, however, poorly understood, not least due to the complexity of natural speech. Here we describe recent progress obtained through applying machine-learning to neuroimaging data of humans listening to speech in different types of background noise. In particular, we develop statistical models to relate characteristic features of speech such as pitch, amplitude fluctuations and linguistic surprisal to neural measurements. We find neural correlates of speech processing both at the subcortical level, related to the pitch, as well as at the cortical level, related to amplitude fluctuations and linguistic structures. We also show that some of these measures allow to diagnose disorders of consciousness. Our findings may be applied in smart hearing aids that automatically adjust speech processing to assist a user, as well as in the diagnosis of brain disorders.


Biography

Dr. Tobias Reichenbach is a Reader (US equivalent: Associate Professor) at the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London. He joined Imperial in 2013 after postdoctoral training in computational neuroscience and the biophysics of hearing  with Prof. A. J. Hudspeth at the Rockefeller University in New York. He graduated in 2008 from the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany, where he researched on theoretical aspects of non-equilibrium pattern formation and statistical physics in the group of Prof. E. Frey.

Dr. Tobias Reichenbach works in sensory neuroengineering. He uses ideas from theoretical physics, mathematics, and computer science to investigate how sensory systems function. Besides furthering our understanding of the neurobiological processes, he also aims at applying his findings in the developement of novel, biologically-inspired technology. 

Much of Dr. Reichenbach's research focuses on hearing. The auditory system showcases an astonishing performance regarding its sensitivity, dynamic range, and frequency resolution. Dr. Reichenbach aims to identify the underlying biophysical and neuronal specializations, and investigate how the ear's and brain's strategies can be employed in speech and hearing technology.

For his research Dr. Tobias Reichenbach received awards such as the Feodor-Lynen fellowship from the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation, Germany (2009-2011), a Career Award at the Scientific Interface from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, U.S.A. (2011), and an EPSRC Fellowship (2019).