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People
Principal Investigator
Graduate students
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Evan Hare
Evan is interested in how auditory information and speech are processed in the brain.
Specific topics of interest include: (1) auditory scene analysis, (2) representations of
acoustic vs speech perception, (3) the mechanisms of auditory attention and phenomena such
as the “cocktail party effect.”
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Julia Leeman
Julia is interested in how perception, attention, and memory interact to organize and extract meaning from complex
auditory scenes, such as speech in noise and music. Some recent projects are investigating (1) neural patterns underlying
auditory perception in complex environments, (2) auditory-evoked semantic memory, and (3) auditory perception in a patient
with musically-generated epilepsy.
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Undergraduate Research Assistants
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Carlos Montes
Carlos is an undergraduate studying a Program II curriculum centered around Cognitive Musicology. He is
particularly interested in how cultural and societal upbringings influence the way humans perceive music,
with a specific interest in cognition and auditory processing. He also works under Dr. Laurie Sanders in
the Neurology department studying protein interactions and their connections to the onset of Parkinson’s Disease.
Carlos likes to spend his time playing the oboe in various ensembles on campus and playing or watching soccer.
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Mary Kate Merenich
Mary Kate is majoring in neuroscience with a minor in psychology. Her broad research interests include language,
music, and sensory impairment, but she is more specifically drawn to the impact of hearing and vision loss on childhood language development.
Apart from being a student, Mary Kate is also a flute player and distance runner. Her time is often spent both playing and listening to music,
going for runs, and watching movies with her friends.
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Jamie Kurzer
Jamie is an undergraduate student majoring in neuroscience. As a dancer and former dance teacher, her unique perspective on how music and
sound influence people has fueled her fascination with the brain’s response to rhythm and melody.
In addition to research, Jamie is a member of Momentum Dance Company and a volunteer at Duke’s Puppy Kindergarten.
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Sarayu Kodali
Sarayu is an undergraduate student majoring in neuroscience with minors in music and chemistry. She is specifically interested in the
therapeutic effects of music and how music is processed differently in the brain compared to other forms of sound. In addition to research,
Sarayu is a member of Duke Dhamaka, a South Asian dance group, and plays the viola in the chamber music program. In her free time, she likes
to watch psychological thrillers and discover new genres of music.
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Pamela Davidson
Pamela is an undergraduate student pursuing a major in Neuroscience and a minor in Music. As a violinist for over 16 years and a former dancer
for 13 years, music has always been an integral part of her life. She has a strong interest in how different sounds, combined with varying sound
preferences, impact the brain. In addition to research, Pamela is a part of the Duke Symphony Orchestra, a Duke Hospital volunteer, a member of
Phi Delta Epsilon Pre-Medical fraternity, and the Event Director of Durham Kappa Alpha Theta.
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Zaina Khan
Zaina is an undergraduate student majoring in neuroscience and minoring in music. She sings and plays the saxophone, guitar, and piano.
These interests led to a love for music and a curiosity about how it affects neuroplasticity and emotional/language processing. At Duke,
she is a part of the Duke Chorale and Lady Blue acapella group. For fun, she loves to read fantasy, weightlift, and spend time with her friends.
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Lab alumni
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