Matthew Leonard
University of California-San Francisco, CA·Neuroscience
Some adults learn the sounds of a new language with ease, while others struggle despite extensive practice. Past explanations relied on fixed traits such as working memory, IQ or musical ability.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Psychology
Biomedical Engineering
- Topics
auditory learning
speech perception
second language learning
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Determine how arousal systems that release noradrenaline, acetylcholine and dopamine affect cortical neurons during the pre-sound, sound-encoding and feedback phases of a sound-learning task in mice.
- Relate pupil-linked arousal, large-scale neural activity and trial-by-trial behavior in humans and mice to explain individual differences in learning non-native speech sound categories.
- Test whether vagus nerve stimulation timed to task phases can adjust arousal systems and improve learning, toward a non-invasive pupil-plus-VNS device for second-language learning.
More about the research
Newer work suggests that much of the difference comes from brain states that shift moment to moment during learning, such as arousal and attention. This collaborative project asks whether tracking and adjusting those states can explain and improve how well people learn.
Why it matters
Learning a second language as an adult is hard for many people, and existing training does not work equally well for everyone. A simple, low-cost and safe device that monitors attention and uses vagus nerve stimulation could make language learning and other demanding skills more accessible, including for underserved communities in education.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Bharath Chandrasekaran
Northwestern University, IL·Neuroscience
Test whether moment-to-moment brain states, driven by noradrenergic, cholinergic and dopaminergic arousal systems, explain individual differences in learning speech sound categories, measured in mice and humans with pupil tracking, neural recordings and behavior.
Qi Wang
Columbia University, NY·Neuroscience
Determine whether long-term chemogenetic stimulation of the locus coeruleus, the brain's main norepinephrine source, delays memory decline and improves synaptic plasticity in amyloid and tau mouse models of Alzheimer's disease.
Christa McIntyre
University of Texas at Dallas, TX·Neuroscience
Test in rats whether pairing exposure with vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) produces fear extinction memories that last longer and generalize to related cues, compared with exposure alone.
The school
University of California-San Francisco: 89 labs on PI Pages, $2.1B a year on research, 164 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.