Brain networks enabling speech perception in everyday settings

While cocktail parties aren't as common as they once were, we all can recall the feeling. You are at a loud party, in a boring conversation. Though you nod politely at all the right moments, your brain is busy listening to the juicy gossip in the interchange behind you. How is it that your brain enables this feat of volitionally directing attention, determining what sound energy is from what sound source, letting through sounds that seem important while filtering out the rest? How is it that unexpected sounds, like the sudden crash of a shattering window, interrupt volitional attention? This talk will explain what we know about control of both spatial and non-spatial processing of sound, based on neuroimaging and behavioral studies, and discuss ways this knowledge can be utilized in developing new assistive listening devices.