A current study by researchers at the University of Rochester entitled, Perception of Music and Language through Auditory Interference, has been selected as the recipient of the Provost Multidisciplinary Research Award.

The work is based on the ability to filter interfering auditory signals from a primary stream is a basic aspect of social and musical communication. Musical performance requires continuous attention to a complex auditory signal: how does this expertise interface with the processing of linguistic signals? Is auditory filtering ability facilitated by musical training?

In order to explore the above questions, this study brings together researchers with expertise in the following fields:

• Musical Pitch Perception: Elizabeth Marvin, Ph.D. - Eastman School of Music
• Linguistic Phonological and Phonetic Analysis: Joyce McDonough - Linguistics
• Auditory Processing: Anne Luebke, Ph.D. - Biomedical Engineering and Neurobiology & Anatomy

A mother's iron deficiency early in pregnancy may have a profound and long-lasting effect on the brain development of the child, even if the lack of iron is not enough to cause severe anemia, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study published in the scientific journal PLoS One.

What convinced us to conduct the present study were our preliminary data suggesting that cells involved in building the embryonic brain during the first trimester were most sensitive to low iron levels, said Margot Mayer-Proschel, Ph.D., the lead researcher and an associate professor of Biomedical Genetics at URMC.

Co-author Anne Luebke, Ph.D., an associate professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neurobiology & Anatomy at UR, suggested and directed the use of ABR testing, which can detect the speed of information moving from the ear to the brain.