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Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology

Research Programs

See Also: Departmental Research Team Members

Acceptable Noise Level (ANL) Laboratory
Drs. Anna Nabelek and Sam Burchfield  

  • Acceptance of background noise in all types of hearing aid users
  • Effects of directional microphones and binaural hearing aid use on acceptance of background in hearing aid users
  • Using technology pharmacology to influence acceptance of background noise in individuals with ADHD/ADD

Audiology Laboratory
Dr. James W. Thelin

  • Hearing and Communication in CHARGE Syndrome
  • Measurement of Averaged Acoustic Reflex Thresholds
  • Behavioral Assessment of Hearing for Medical-Legal Purposes

Cleft Palate Speech and Speech Science Laboratory
Dr. Seunghee Ha

  • MRI study in individuals with and without repaired cleft palate
  • The effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure on reducing hypernasal speech in individuals with cleft palate
  • Acoustic and aerodynamic studies of nasal coarticulation
  • The effect of anchors and training on the reliability of hypernasality evaluation
  • Longitudinal study of speech sound acquisition in bilingual children

Cognitive Wellness and Neurologic Communication & Swallowing Disorders
Dr. Colleen Karow

    • Cognitive Fitness in the Elderly with Normal Cognitive Aging and those with Mild Cognitive Impairment
    • Problem Solving Skills in Patients with Neurologic Communication Disorders
    • Web Interfaced Computerized Treatments for Patients with Communication & Cognitive Disorders
    • Instrumental Assessment and Treatment Programming for Patients with Dysphagia

    Hearing Instrument Laboratory
    Dr. Patrick Plyler

    • Impact of high Hz amplification on subjective and objective benefit in hearing instrument users
    • Effects of expansion on subjective and objective benefit in hearing instrument users
    • Effects of expansion time constants on subjective and objective benefit in hearing instrument users.

    Human Auditory Physiology Laboratory
    Dr. Ashley W. Harkrider

    • Neurophysiological correlates for perceptual behavior of normal and impaired populations
    • Underlying physiological mechanisms in the cochlea and/or central auditory nervous system responsible for overt behavioral responses to, and perception of, various acoustic stimuli in quiet and in noise

    Neurocognitive Linguistics Laboratory
    Kristin King

    • Communication and swallowing disorders arising secondary to traumatic brain injury, stroke, neurologic disease, and dementias in both children and adults
    • Investigation of hemispheric processing and neurocognitive skills for linguistic processes in individuals following traumatic brain injury

    Psychoacoustics Laboratory
    Dr. Mark Hedrick

    • Segregation of Concurrent Vowels by Listeners with Normal Hearing and with Hearing Loss
    • The use of nicotine as a tool to study auditory function, “Actions of Nicotine in the Auditory System
    • Implementing research with Peter Flipsen on “A longitudinal investigation of the development of speech skills in children with cochlear implants
    • Longitudinal study of Fast ForWord treatment effects on reading ability of poor readers, 8-10 years of age.
    • Vowel perception in noise and reverberation with hearing and hearing impaired individuals.
    • Similar study with consonants in noise and reverberation with hearing and hearing impaired individuals.

    Spatial and Binaural Hearing Laboratory
    Dr. Patti Johnstone

    • Sound localization ability
    • Spatial release from masking
    • Aided and prosthetic binaural, bilateral, and spatial hearing
    • Hearing loss prevention

    Speech Perception and Production Laboratory
    Dr. Deborah Von Hapsburg

    • The effect of signal audibility on the emergence of early vocalization patterns in hearing impaired infants.
    • The effects of increasing word familiarity on bilingual speaker’s speech perception in noise
    • Speech perception in noise in [Korean/English] bilingual listeners

    Stuttering  and Speech Science Laboratory
    Dr. Tim Saltuklaroglu

    • Investigations into the neural mechanisms responsible for inducing fluent speech in people who stutter.
    • Examining the role of mirror neuron systems in speech perception and simulated production tasks via electroencephalograpy (EEG).
    • Investigations into clinical efficacy of altered auditory feedback and other treatments for stuttering.
    • Listener reactions to stuttering:
      • Changes in eye-gaze behaviors and physiological responses. How these reactions may in turn affect people who stutter and their communicative interactions.
    • Anticipatory reactions to stuttering in people who stutter. Changes in physiological responses of anxiety in anticipation of stuttered versus fluent speech.
    • The effects of stuttering on manual functions.

    The Stuttering Treatment and Research Center at University of Tennessee

    Verbotonal Research Laboratory
    Dr. Carl Asp

    Voice and Speech Science Laboratory
    Dr. Molly Erickson

    • Spasmodic dysphoniaAcoustic and physiology of singing
    • Acoustics of cultural diversity
    • Normative data - vocal physiology
    • Experimental phonetics - duration modeling