Image from Bala, A.D.S., Whitchurch, E.A., Takahashi, T.T., 2020. Human Auditory Detection and Discrimination Measured with the Pupil Dilation Response. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology 21, 43–59.. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-019-00739-x
The Takahashi Lab at the University of Oregon specializes in studying the relationship between audio and visual neural pathways and how the human brain reacts to each stimulus both individually, and in tandem. My project there was to assist in the development of a device to be used by infants to detect potential hearing loss. This device was to be based on the concept of pupil dilation response (PDR). The human brain is able to become accustomed to sounds after being exposed to them for sustained periods and will gradually lessen its response to said sound. However, when an unfamiliar sound is encountered, the body will innately react by dilating the pupils to a seemingly minute degree. This dilation can be measured and quantified via camera to determine if a subject has indeed perceived a sound that was not previously "normalized". Working on this project allowed me to strengthen my skills in data analysis via MATLAB, experiment design, and research animal care. Please follow the link to learn about more specifics of the project.