Ellen Covey

Research

Historically, our research program has been concerned with the broad question of how complex patterns of sound are processed and analyzed in the central nervous system, and how hearing leads to appropriate behavior. Echolocating bats depend almost entirely on hearing to navigate and capture prey, their echolocation behavior is well understood, and their auditory systems are highly developed and accessible for study. Because the auditory brainstem of all mammals is characterized by a similar network of parallel pathways, principles discovered in bats are applicable to many different systems including human speech processing and pattern recognition software. Examples of past studies include: 1) neuropharmacological experiments to reversibly block excitatory neurotransmission in selected brainstem pathways to determine the role of each pathway in shaping responses of neurons at higher levels; 2) whole-cell patch clamp recording in the auditory midbrain of awake animals to elucidate the synaptic and cellular mechanisms responsible for creating neural selectivity for biologically important patterns of sound; 3) anatomical and electrophysiological experiments to identify links between auditory and motor systems and to understand the role of feedback from the motor system in modulating sensory processing.
Recently we have moved in a completely new direction, studying how humans' mental health is affected by the now ubiquitously deployed variety of digital automated systems, including those that incorporate AI. Our goal is to identify design features and applications that make such systems useful and supportive and those that cause frustration, anxiety, depression, learned helplessness, and other unhealthy effects.