We use our experimental results to develop and refine computational models of how the brain processes spatial auditory cues. Models of brainstem activity explore what information is robustly encoded in relatively peripheral portions of the brain. Such physiologically-based models allow us to investigate integration of spatial information over time and frequency. Our goal is to understand how spatial information is represented in neural populations at different stages of the auditory processing pathway and how experience influences spatial processing at different levels of the auditory pathway, from brainstem to cortex.

Recent Papers on Computational Modeling

Grace, SM, E Quaranta, BG Shinn-Cunningham, and HF Voigt (in press). “Simulation of the head-related transfer function for gerbils using a boundary element method,” Acta Acustica United with Acustica, 94, 310-320..

Naka, Y, A Oberai and Shinn-Cunningham, BG (2007). “Optimal space-time finite difference schemes for experimental booth design,” Proceedings of the International Congress on Acoustics, Madrid, Spain, 5-7 September 2007.

Shinn-Cunningham, BG, A Ihelfeld, Satyavarta, and E Larson (2005). “Bottom-up and top-down influences on spatial unmasking,” Acta Acustica united with Acustica. 91, 967-979.

Naka, Y, A Oberai, and BG Shinn-Cunningham (2005). “Acoustic eigenvalues of rectangular rooms with arbitrary wall impedances using the interval Newton/generalized bisection method,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 118(6), 3662-3671.

Lane, CC, N Kopco, B Delgutte, BG Shinn-Cunningham, and HS Colburn (2004). “A cat's cocktail party: Psychophysical, neurophysiological, and computational studies of spatial release from masking,” in Auditory Signal Processing: Physiology, Psychoacoustics, and Models, D Pressnitzer, A de Cheveigne, S McAdams, and L Collet (eds.), Springer Verlag, 405-413.

Shinn-Cunningham, BG (2004). “The perceptual consequences of creating a realistic, reverberant 3-D audio display,” Proceedings of the International Congress on Acoustics, Kyoto, Japan, 4-9 April 2004 (in press).

Kopco, N and Shinn-Cunningham, BG (2003). "Spatial unmasking of nearby pure-tone targets in a simulated anechoic environment," J Acoust Soc Am, 114, 2856-2870.

Shinn-Cunningham, BG and K Kawakyu (2003). “Neural representation of source direction in reverberant space," Proceedings of the 2003 IEEE Workshop on Applications of Signal Processing to Audio and Acoustics, New Pfaltz, NY, October 2003, 79-82.

Shinn-Cunningham, BG (2001). "Models of plasticity in spatial auditory processing," Audiology and Neuro-otology, 6(4), 187-191.

Shinn-Cunningham, BG, J Schickler, N Kopco, and RY Litovsky (2001). "Spatial unmasking of nearby speech sources in a simulated anechoic environment", J. Acoust. Soc. Am, 110(2), 1118-1129.

Shinn-Cunningham, BG, JG Desloge, and N Kopco (2001). “Empirical and modeled acoustic transfer functions in a simple room: Effects of distance and direction,” in Proceedings of the 2001 IEEE Workshop on Applications of Signal Processing to Audio and Acoustics, New Pfaltz, NY, 19-24 October 2001, 419-423.

Shinn-Cunningham, BG, SG Santarelli,, and N Kopco (2000). “Tori of confusion: Binaural cues for sources within reach of a listener,” J Acoust Soc Am, 107(3), 1627-1636.

Shinn-Cunningham, BG (2000). “Adapting to remapped auditory localization cues: A decision-theory model.” Perception and Psychophysics, 62(1), 33-47.