CHBH Seminar Series: Professor Nathan Weisz

CHBH Seminars are free to attend and are open to all, both within and outside the University.

We are pleased to announce that Prof Nathan Weisz, Professor of Physiological Psychology, Group Coordinator and PI of Auditory Neuroscience Group at the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg will be presenting a CHBH seminar on Thursday 25th June, 13:00-14:00 BST online via Zoom, please email chbh@contacts.bham.ac.uk for Zoom invite and password.

If you would be interested in virtually-meeting with Professor Weisz 1:1 on the day, please contact chbh@contacts.bham.ac.uk for time-slot availability.

Predictive listening as double-edged sword

Perception is the processes by which your brain forms meaningful representations from input transduced by
peripheral receptors, that can be used to guide actions in the complex environment it seeks to survive in. This is
particularly challenging for the auditory modality in which acoustic input from many sound sources
spatiotemporally overlap in the cochlea. From a predictive processing perspective successful listening requires a
so-called internal (generative) model. Building up internal models requires the ability of an individual to "figure
out" (not voluntarily) the regularities in the auditory input stream.
A guiding hypothesis of our group is that interindividual differences exist in terms of predictive processing - i.e.
the disposition of an individual to form and utilize internal models - and that this population-level variation has
real-life implications for listening experience. On the one hand side strong dispositions to form and utilize
reliable internal models should be beneficial when adapting to challenging listening situations, a factor that
could drive interindividual adaptation following hearing damage. However, strong predictive processing
tendencies could also promote a tendency for illusory perception. Our group is currently applying this
framework to advance our understanding to what extent they are a predisposing factor to develop tinnitus
following hearing damage.

Biography

Nathan Weisz joined the University of Salzburg in 2015 as Professor of Physiological Psychology, where he also is
the coordinator of the MEG laboratory at the Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience. With a background in psychology
he obtained his PhD at the University of Konstanz in 2004, studying large-scale "neural correlates" of tinnitus.
The -also predisposing- relationship between electrophysiologically derived measures and conscious perception
has been a common theme throughout most of his work as a Postdoc (Konstanz and Lyon) and early group
leader (Konstanz). This was also the focus of his research of an ERC funded project which he started as newly
appointed Associate Professor at the Center for Mind / Brain Sciences at the University of Trento (2012-2015).
In more recent work, Nathan Weisz has refocussed his work again on the auditory modality working on normal
as well as disordered hearing.

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CHBH Seminars are free to attend and are open to all, both within and outside the University.