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Announcement Postdoctoral Research Position Speech Physiology Laboratory Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders Northwestern University Evanston, IL Starting Salary: $40,000 Five year appointment Starting date: Sept. 1, 2009 Applications are invited from PhDs with research training in neurobiology, physiology, voice science, psychology, communication sciences and biomedical engineering to join a research team funded to study neural mechanisms underlying vocal responses to perturbations in auditory feedback. This research project is focuses on the study of brain mechanism related to voice and speech control. Our basic research plan involves presenting pitch- or loudness-shifted voice auditory feedback to subjects who are speaking or vocalizing. During these studies, we will be recording neural activity from scalp electrodes in order to understand how the ERPs are modulated as a function of variations in specific vocal tasks and auditory perturbation parameters. We will also be using ECoG techniques to make direct recordings from the brain in patients undergoing treatment for epilepsy. These recordings are made off-site (University of Iowa and University of Chicago), and the data are analyzed in our lab. Data from ECoG recordings will be combined with source analysis techniques from the scalp recorded ERP electrodes to define neural structures that are modulated during production of vocal responses to perturbations in auditory feedback. We are also studying neural mechanisms of voice control in conjunction with investigators at the Research Imaging Center in San Antonio Texas (University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio). In that lab, we conduct fMRI studies to locate neural areas related to voice control Then we test the role of these areas in voice control by applying TMS pulses while subjects are vocalizing and receiving perturbations in voice auditory feedback. We then do PET scanning combined with TMS stimulation, followed by structural equation modeling in order to define neural networks involved in voice control. Interaction with the San Antonio group will be part of the post-doctoral training experience. The main laboratory is located on the Evanston campus of Northwestern University in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. We will also travel to the University of Iowa and the University of Chicago to participate in the ECoG experiments. The position is available now and will remain open until filled. Funding for the position is available for five years. Applicants should submit a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, and the names and addresses of three references to: Chuck Larson, Ph.D. Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders 2240 Campus Drive Northwestern University Evanston, IL 60208 Chuck Larson Chairman, Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders 2240 Campus Dr. Northwestern University Evanston, IL 60208 Phone: 847-491-2424 Cell: 847-830-5432 Fax: 847-491-4975 email: clarson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx |