Faced with the cacophony of daily life, the human brain is remarkably adept at focusing on one sound source while tuning out numerous competing others, effortlessly solving the so-called “cocktail party problem.” Dr. Maddox studies the brain’s solutions to this problem. His research has two main thrusts: to investigate how the visual system interacts with the auditory system to improve selective attention under noisy conditions, and to identify and dissociate the neural causes of disabled listening, particularly in people who show no signs of hearing impairment as defined by current audiologic testing. His work combines behavioral studies, electroencephalography recordings of neural activity, and novel applications of signal processing techniques.
