The Sound and Music Perception Lab at UCSF is devoted to exploring music perception and complex sound processing in cochlear implant users as well as the neural substrates of musical creativity. Since its establishment, the lab’s research has been generously supported by grants and gifts from a range of funders including but not limited to the National Institutes of Health, the Johns Hopkins University Brain Science Institute, the Dana Foundation, the Med-El Corporation, the Advanced Bionics Corporation. We are currently funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) as one of their Research Labs. Our project studies the neural correlates of improvisation across art forms and links between creativity and cognition.
Current Research
Cochlear implants (CIs) are surgically implanted hearing aids for people with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss. CIs have drastically improved speech perception for hearing loss patients; however, music perception remains difficult. Our lab’s research aims to generate a more comprehensive understanding of the limitations of music and sound in CI users and to develop ways to mitigate these limitations through surgical, technological, and auditory training techniques. Some of our current projects include:
- Assessment of pitch, music, and speech emotion perception in CI users
- Development of personalized place-pitch maps for CI users
- Development of personalized auditory/musical training programs for improvement of music and sound perception
The Limb Lab’s research in creativity seeks to understand the neural substrates of creativity, both musical and non-musical. Creativity is an extremely complex human capacity and little is understood about its underlying neurological processes. Our lab uses creative activities such as musical jazz improvisation, cartoon sketching, and free-style rapping in combination with functional MRI and EEG to study the creative process in real time. Among other projects, the lab is currently developing a paradigm to study the neural underpinnings of musical improvisation in children and adolescents.
Learn more about Dr. Limb's research featured on CNN about functional MRI and jazz.
Research Involvement and Opportunities
Studies in the Limb Lab involve a wide range of participants including hearing loss patients, CI recipients, musicians, non-musicians, artists, children, and healthy-hearing listeners. If you are interested in research participation opportunities, please contact Charles Limb.
Personalized Cochlear Implant Programming & Music Perception Research
The study involves using high-resolution imaging to create personalized pitch maps and to determine whether an individualized approach to cochlear implant (CI) programming may lead to improved music perception and performance in CI users.
We are looking for adult research participants with Med-El cochlear implants. Participation requires 2 to 4 visits to the UCSF campus with significant scheduling flexibility.
During your visit, you will be asked to:
- Undergo flat panel CT (computed tomography) imaging of your head.
- Answer a few questions about your CI and musical training experience.
- Complete a listening test in our sound booth, where you will listen to a series of speech and musical excerpts and answer 1 or 2 questions about each.
- Sit through an audiology session where your cochlear implant pitch map will be reprogrammed based on your personal CT findings.
- Complete the same listening test in our sound booth with your new electrode settings.
All participants will be compensated $15-75 per visit, depending how long the testing takes. Parking validation will also be provided.
Please contact Melanie Gilbert at [email protected] for more information regarding this study.
PianoKids: An Investigation of Musical Improvisation in Children
This study involves using neural imaging (fMRI) to examine what happens in the brains of children when they are improvising music. We are looking for children who:
- Are Aged 9- 11 years old with an interest in science, and some enjoyment of music
- Have no metal implants, sensors, or orthodontic work. Have no metal earrings that cannot be removed.
- No history of neurological diseases or disorder.
- No claustrophobia or fear of loud sounds.
- Be able to lie still for about 20 minutes
The study will take place at UCSF Mission Bay (675 Nelson Rising Lane, San Francisco, CA, 94158) and will take about 1-1.5 hours. If your child fits this study criteria, he/she will receive an fMRI brain scan while playing a keyboard and you, the parent, will fill out some background questionnaires about your child.
Families who participate will receive 1) $100 for participation; 2) Given parking reimbursement at UCSF’s Mission Bay Campus; 3) Given a brain picture of your child’s brain as a memento of the study; and 4) given small toys as a thank you for participation.
If interested, please email Dr. Karen Chan Barrett at [email protected] for additional information.
NEA Research Lab
We are proud to announce that the UCSF Sound and Music Perception Lab is now a National Endowment of the Arts Research Lab. Our project funded by the NEA will be investigating the neural correlates of improvisation across art forms, studying world-class musicians, comedic improvisers, and visual artists. We are also examining links between creativity and cognition. Please see the links below for material related to this work with the National Endowment for the Arts.
Blog
Publications
- Barrett, Karen Chan, & Charles J. Limb (2018) “Unveiling artistic minds: case studies in creativity.” Current Opinions in Behavioral Sciences. 27: 84-89. (Special Issue on Creativity edited by Rex Jung and Hikaru Takeuchi) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235215461830144X
- Barrett, Karen Chan & Charles J. Limb. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the neural correlates of artistic creative production. Encyclopedia of Creativity, 3rd Edition. Editors: Mark Runco and Steven Pritzker. (Forthcoming).
Conference Presentations and Talks
- Charles Limb. Keynote Presentation for the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity. San Francisco. March 22, 2019.
Media
- Wired interview on Music and the Brain (https://www.wired.com/story/tech-effects-how-does-music-affect-your-brain/)
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in materials on this website are those of the author(s) and do not represent the views of the National Endowment for the Arts Office of Research & Analysis or the National Endowment for the Arts. The Arts Endowment does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information included in this material and is not responsible for any consequences of its use. This NEA Research Lab is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts (Award#: 1844330-38-C-18).
Research Team
Former Team Members
Featured News
- CNN: The 'flow' of Peak Performance
- Facebook: With Ben Folds at the Kennedy Center (more than 9 million views!) - Live Performance
- YouTube: Jazz, Creativity, and the Brain—Sound Health: Music and the Mind
- Statnews: Music and the Brain
- National Geographic: The Improvised Brain
- National Geographic: What Makes a Genius?
Selected Publications
Jiam NT, Jiradejvong P, Pearl MS, Limb CJ. The Impact of Round Window vs. Cochleostomy Surgical Approaches on Cochlear Implant Electrode Position: A Flat-Panel Computed Tomography Study. JAMA – Otolaryngology. (In press).
Jiam NT, Pearl MS, Carver C, Limb CJ. Flat-Panel CT Imaging for Individualized Pitch Mapping in Cochlear Implant Users. Otolology & Neurotology. (In press).
He A, Deroche ML, Doong J, Jiradejvong P, Limb CJ. (2016) Mandarin Tone Identification in Cochlear Implant Users Using Exaggerated Pitch Contours. Otology & Neurotology, 37(4), 324-31.
McPherson, M. J., Barrett, F. S., Lopez-Gonzalez, M., Jiradejvong, P., & Limb, C. J. (2016). Emotional Intent Modulates The Neural Substrates Of Creativity: An fMRI Study of Emotionally Targeted Improvisation in Jazz Musicians. Scientific Reports, 6(18460): 1-14.
Caldwell, M. T., Jiradejvong, P., & Limb, C. J. (2016). Impaired Perception of Sensory Consonance and Dissonance in Cochlear Implant Users. Otology & Neurotology, 37(3), 229-234.
Roy, A. T., Penninger, R. T., Pearl, M. S., Wuerfel, W., Jiradejvong, P., Carver, C., ... & Limb, C. J. (2016). Deeper Cochlear Implant Electrode Insertion Angle Improves Detection of Musical Sound Quality Deterioration Related to Bass Frequency Removal. Otology & Neurotology, 37(2), 146-151.
Munjal, T., Roy, A. T., Carver, C., Jiradejvong, P., & Limb, C. J. (2015). Use of the Phantom Electrode strategy to improve bass frequency perception for music listening in cochlear implant users. Cochlear Implants International, 16(S3), S121-S128.
Roy, A. T., Carver, C., Jiradejvong, P., & Limb, C. J. (2015). Musical Sound Quality in Cochlear Implant Users: A Comparison in Bass Frequency Perception Between Fine Structure Processing and High-Definition Continuous Interleaved Sampling Strategies. Ear and Hearing, 36(5), 582-590.
McPherson, M. J., Lopez-Gonzalez, M., Rankin, S. K., & Limb, C. J. (2014). The role of emotion in musical improvisation: an analysis of structural features. PloS one, 9(8), e105144.
Donnay, G. F., Rankin, S. K., Lopez-Gonzalez, M., Jiradejvong, P., & Limb, C. J. (2014). Neural substrates of interactive musical improvisation: An fMRI study of ‘trading fours’ in jazz. PLoS one, 9(2), e88665.
Pearl, M. S., Roy, A., & Limb, C. J. (2014). High-resolution secondary reconstructions with the use of flat panel CT in the clinical assessment of patients with cochlear implants. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 35(6), 1202-1208.
Roy, A. T., Jiradejvong, P., Carver, C., & Limb, C. J. (2012). Assessment of sound quality perception in cochlear implant users during music listening. Otology & Neurotology, 33(3), 319-327.
Roy, A. T., Jiradejvong, P., Carver, C., & Limb, C. J. (2012). Musical sound quality impairments in cochlear implant (CI) users as a function of limited high-frequency perception. Trends in Amplification, 16(4), 191-200.
Limb, C. J., & Braun, A. R. (2008). Neural substrates of spontaneous musical performance: An fMRI study of jazz improvisation. PLoS one, 3(2), 1-9.