My primary research area is auditory neuroscience. I have a fascination with understanding how sound is represented within the brain, both in the presence of external stimuli and in the absence of an objective stimulus, as is the case with subjective tinnitus. As a musician, I have experienced first-hand the power that auditory stimuli can have on the brain. I am interested in furthering our understanding of basic neuroscience and translating this into benefits for patients, utilising the latest tools in intracranial ECoG, behavioural neuroscience, PET and source space EEG. My years of experience in Matlab analysis help me greatly in this endeavour. Much of my recent time has additionally been focussed on developing novel approaches to single and multi-unit recordings in humans.
I am currently an assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at The University of Iowa, in the Human Brain Research Laboratory of Matt Howard, MD. I obtained my BSc from the University of Lincoln (UK) in 2008, where I graduated with first class honours. My dissertation assessed the association between obsessive-compulsiveness and cognitive dissonance. Subsequently, I received my PhD from the University of Nottingham in 2014, under the supervision of Prof. Alan Palmer and Dr Mark Wallace. My thesis was on the behavioural and neural correlates of tinnitus. My first postdoctoral position was at the MRC Institute of Hearing Research, also under the supervision of Prof. Alan Palmer. I then moved to Iowa for a postdoctoral appointment followed by a faculty appointment, to pursue further direct physiological and neuroimaging measurements of auditory perception.
CV (pdf)
email: first hyphen last at uiowa.edu
Joel I. Berger, PhD
Dept of Neurosurgery
1800 JPP
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA
52242
Links: Human Brain Research Laboratory; Auditory Cognition Group