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Albert S. Feng Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Neuroscience, Bioengineering, and Biophysics Ph.D. 1975, Cornell University Neural basis of sound pattern recognition Albert S. Feng 2355 Beckman, MC-251 405 N. Mathews Urbana, IL 61801 217-244-1951 afeng1@uiuc.edu

Neural Basis of Sound Pattern Recognition.

Dr. Feng and his students/postdocs study the neural basis of sound pattern recognition in the auditory system of frogs and bats. These animals communicate by sounds in acoustically complex environments. Male frogs produce advertisement calls in large choruses, and females must localize and identify the callers based on the spectro-temporal characteristics of males' vocalizations. Current research focuses on determining the mechanisms underlying stream segregation. Echolocating bats rely on analysis of echoes of their sonar emissions to determine the location and identity of objects along their flight paths, to discriminate preys from obstacles, and stationary from moving objects. The current focus is on determining the roles of neural oscillation in time domain information processing and the cellular mechanisms underlying fast neural oscillations.

Dr. Feng is also involved in translational research. A recent project involved transferring knowledge of biological signal processing strategies to guiding the design of intelligent hearing aids. This interdisciplinary team at the Beckman Institute developed advanced hearing aid technologies with the ability to extract sound embedded in noise. He currently leads a team of researchers that is developing biomolecular high-resolution cochlear implants.