H.G.S. Arends (Samuël)

I study how we perceive the world through our senses, specifically through hearing. Our brain translates sound into neuronal firing patterns that inform us of what we're hearing. This is especially difficult because all sounds in the world blend together before they reach our ears. The brain then has to figure out which sounds are important, like picking out one voice in a noisy room — something known as the "cocktail party problem." In my research, I’ve looked at how the brain of a mouse handles this challenge by studying how it responds to mouse sounds mixed with background noise. This helps us understand how the brain is able to focus on specific sounds in a noisy environment.

• Natural Computing & Neurotechnology

• Computational Neuroscience Lab