The Auditory Research Laboratory, or ARL, is a dedicated research facility of the Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences, a part of the College of Health Sciences at Rush University Medical Center.
The ARL has a dual mission to advance theoretical and applied knowledge of auditory perception and cognition in both normal-hearing and hearing impaired populations, and to train future health care professionals in the development and conduct of experimental research.
Our work
Our central research theme has long been focused around the perceptual organization of complex sounds by people of different age and hearing abilities. We investigate the relationship of sound perception and processing; how basic auditory abilities to perceive acoustic properties of sounds interact with cognitive abilities in the processing of sounds listeners encounter everyday including speech, music and environmental sounds. Our current investigations focus on developing both efficient clinical tests and effective rehabilitation methods for those with hearing loss.
We also encourage participation from students in the College of Health Sciences in our current and future work.
The Ear Day symposium brings together auditory researchers to discuss work and exchange ideas.
Publications
Funding
Many agencies, including the following, have generously funded our research:
- NIH-NIDCD
- NIH-NIA (through Rush University Alzheimer’s Disease Center)
- Capita Foundation
- Hearing Health Foundation
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation
- National Organization for Hearing Research
Our team
- Principal investigator: Valeriy Shafiro, PhD
- Senior researcher: Stanley Sheft, PhD
Contact us
Please direct any inquiries to:
Valeriy Shafiro, PhD
Office: (312) 942-3298
Lab: (312) 942-3316