Answering this question, i.e. cracking the neural code or reverse-engineering the brain, has been cited as one of the grand research challenges of the 21st century.

Understanding the meaning of our brain's activity is essential not only for basic science, but also for developing therapeutic and prosthetic approaches to replacing brain function that has been lost to trauma or disease, as well ascreating intelligent artificial systems for tasks such as speech recogntition.

Our main focus is the auditory system, specifically the inferior colliculus, the so-called 'hub' of the mammalian system. We also work with other researchers to study the visual system, and develop computational models to consolidate our findings and test new ideas. More detailed information about our work can be found through the above links.

Our work is supported by the Wellcome Trust and the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).