Caroline Niziolek
Position title: Principal Investigator
Email:
cniziolek
How does what we hear affect what we say? My research combines neuroimaging and acoustic measures in an attempt to characterize speech feedback processing and what purpose it serves in communication. The overarching hypothesis that frames my work is that communicative intent defines the brain’s motor plans for speech goals.
Katla Anderson
Position title: Research Assistant
Email:
kmanderson35
I’m a senior majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Psychology. After undergrad, I’m planning on pursuing a degree in audiology. I’m especially interested in helping people with cochlear implants.
Sara Beach
Position title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Email:
beach4
I am a postdoc studying the effects of inhibition on speech acoustics and the neural mechanisms of speech-error detection in persons with aphasia.
I received my PhD from Harvard University in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology. My dissertation work, advised by John Gabrieli at MIT, examined perceptual processing in dyslexia using behavioral, EEG, MEG, and neural-decoding methods.
Gabby Boydston
Position title: Research Assistant
Email:
gboydston
I am an undergraduate junior majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders, with a certificate in Disability Rights and Services. After receiving my undergraduate degree, I am planning on pursuing a master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology.
Reegan Chisholm
Position title: Research Assistant
Email:
rachisholm
I’m a senior majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Biology, with a certificate in Disability Rights and Services. After undergrad, I plan on pursuing a master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology.
Sadie Collar
Position title: Research Assistant
Email:
sfcollar
I am an undergraduate sophomore majoring in Spanish and Linguistics, with a certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL). I am particularly interested in speech planning and production, specifically in second language learning.
Elena Groves
Position title: Graduate Research Assistant
Email:
ekgroves
I am a second-year master’s student in Speech-Language Pathology. In 2021, I graduated from UW-Madison with a B.A. in Communication Sciences & Disorders and Linguistics. I am eager to further explore my interests in acoustics and communication-related neuroscience through involvement in the lab.
Andrea Hansen
Position title: Research Assistant
Email:
akhansen6
I am a sophomore majoring in neurobiology and plan to attend medical school after graduation.
Ellie Kraichely
Position title: Research Assistant
Email:
kraichely
I am an undergraduate junior at UW studying Communication Sciences and Disorders with hopes of pursuing a career in speech pathology.
Kerry Lannon
Position title: Research Assistant
Email:
klannon
I am an undergraduate sophomore majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Spanish. I plan to attend graduate school to study either speech pathology or audiology.
Emma Meyer
Position title: Research Assistant
Email:
emmeyer7
I am a junior majoring in neurobiology with a certificate in French. After graduating, I plan on pursuing a career in medicine.
Riva Moradia
Position title: Research Assistant
Email:
rmoradia
I am a sophomore majoring in Neurobiology. I plan on attending medical school after receiving my undergraduate degree.
Emilio Moreno
Position title: Research Assistant
Email:
emoreno5
I am a sophomore majoring in neurobiology and Spanish. After graduating from UW-Madison, I intend to go on a medical service trip to Mexico for a year before attending medical school.
Chris Naber
Position title: Lab Manager
Email:
cwnaber
I studied Psychology, Linguistics, and Music Performance at Emory University. After a stint at Epic and UW-Madison’s CSD capstone program, I started working in SMAC Lab in Summer 2019. I programmed experiments related to timing in speech, assisted students on projects, and improved lab tools like Audapter. In Summer 2021 I became lab manager.
Ding-lan Tang
Position title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Email:
dtang38
I am a postdoctoral fellow at Speech Motor Neuroscience Group at UW–Madison, a collaboration between the Brain, Language, and Acoustic Behavior Lab (PI: Niziolek) and the Speech Motor Action + Control Lab (PI: Parrell). My research focuses on the mechanisms underlying sensorimotor learning in speech at both behavioral and neural level.
I completed my PhD in Speech&Brain lab at University of Oxford in the global pandemic (2020) with Kate Watkins and co-mentor Charlotte Stagg. My PhD work focused on the auditory-motor interactions during both speech perception and production. I use a mixture of behavioural testing (e.g. real-time feedback perturbation), Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and Magnetoencephalography/electroencephalography (M/EEG).
Kathryn Tanner
Position title: Research Assistant
Email:
ktanner3
I am a fourth-year student majoring in communication sciences and disorders. After graduating, I plan to continue my education to pursue a degree in speech-language pathology.
Yuyu Zeng
Position title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
Email:
yuyu.zeng
I am a postdoctoral researcher of the Speech Motor Neuroscience Group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I grew up in Chongqing, China’s 4th direct-controlled municipality besides Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin. Although I can perceive and produce the /in/ and /iŋ/ contrast in Mandarin Chinese, I pretend to have an accent by merging them when speaking Mandarin.
The central theme of my research is Words in Communication (WiC). My vision for research on WiC is that it will integrate knowledge from linguistics, acoustics, psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, computer science, and network science, using behavioral experiments, brain recordings, and computational models. You can find more about me on my personal website.
Katie Zettel
Position title: Research Assistant
Email:
klzettel
I am a senior undergraduate majoring in Communication Sciences & Disorders and completing certificates in Disability Rights and Services, Education and Educational Services, and Leadership. I am pursuing a career in Speech-Language Pathology.
Collaborators
Ben Parrell, UW–Madison, Speech Motor Action + Control Lab
Swathi Kiran, Boston University, Aphasia Research Laboratory
Sara Beach, MIT, Gabrieli Lab
John Houde, UCSF, Speech Neuroscience Laboratory
Zarinah Agnew, UCSF, Speech Neuroscience Laboratory
Srikantan Nagarajan, UCSF, Biomagnetic Imaging Lab
Edward Chang, UCSF, Chang Lab
Tara McAllister, NYU, Biofeedback Intervention Technology for Speech Lab
Clara Martin, BCBL, Speech and Bilingualism