The Auditory Aging Lab at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest is seeking a graduate student, supervised by Dr. Björn Herrmann. Co-supervision is also encouraged depending on the topic of interested. Check out other scientists at the Rotman Research Institute and faculty in the Psychology Department at UofT. Interesting research questions often emerge at the intersection of different research areas.

​

Common research in the Auditory Aging lab focuses on:

• Auditory sensory system (e.g., How do our brains recognize patterns in sounds? How do we perceive speech as we age and develop hearing loss?)

• Cognitive architecture needed for listening and understanding speech (e.g., Can we objectively assess whether a person finds listening effortful? How does prior knowledge support listening under acoustic challenges? What are the neural mechanisms that support challenging listening)

• The role of memory in speech comprehension (e.g., How do individuals retrieve speech information they have heard previously? How do listeners segment speech into meaningful events? How do speech comprehension challenges due to background noise affect recall?)

• Experiential and social aspects of listening engagement (Why do some people who are hard of hearing disengage from listening whereas other continue to engage despite challenges? Do positive listening experiences, involving enjoyment and gratification, support listening under acoustic challenged? How much do older people know about the link between hearing loss and dementia)

​

These are just a few core research areas of the lab. We are also interested in a) how other critical cognitive functions such as mental imagery intersect with speech listening; b) how speech comprehension is affected by different clinical populations, such as people with mild cognitive impairment or brain impairment due to stroke; c) how mental health problems such as depression in older adulthood interact with hearing challenges to affect communication; and d) how we can use modern AI tool, such as large language models, to support research and clinical practice with positive impacts for older people.

​

​The successful applicant will use have the ability to learn relevant methods depending on area of interest (e.g., psychophysics, eye-tracking,  EEG, MEG, fMRI for cognitive and cognitive neuroscience questions; qualitative interviews and analyses for questions focusing on experiential and social aspects of listening and cognition). The successful applicant will further be able to work independently under guided supervision, integrate new information well, and be motivated to contribute to answer research questions. The applicant will be able to work well with others in the lab.

​

Applications for the graduate program need to go through UofT, where Dr. Herrmann is a faculty member in the Psychology Department. Please check out the application information at UofT. The application deadline is typically the 1st of December. You are encouraged to get in touch with Dr. Herrmann ahead of the deadline.