[Student Seminar] 12/12/17 Lia Bonacci
Title: Neural Correlates of Selective Attention: Enhancing Communication at the Cocktail Party
Abstract: Interaction with the outside world is guided by the ability to direct and maintain attention, selecting objects of interest while simultaneously suppressing distractors. However, many individuals struggle to communicate in noisy environments—settings in which a multitude of stimuli constantly compete for attention. In these settings, it would be useful to monitor where an individual is directing their attention. This ability would make it possible to assist in object selection, enhancing how well a listener understands surrounding stimuli. Selective attention has been shown to modulate the neural response to both auditory and visual stimuli. Yet the neural mechanisms underlying selective attention are still not well understood. Electroencephalography (EEG) is often used to examine these mechanisms, namely through measurement of event-related potentials and oscillatory power. Using EEG, we will identify neural correlates of selective attention to dynamic auditory and visual stimuli. By doing so, we hope to gain insight into the neural mechanisms that underlie selective attention in both sensory modalities. In addition, these correlates will form the feature space for a classifier that can reliably determine where an individual has directed attention in a complex scene. The goal of this work is to assess the degree to which EEG can be used in real time to monitor direction of attention and assist communication in noisy environments.
