معرفی
Dr Alice E. Milne is a Lecturer in Neuroscience within the Department of Psychology at Lancaster University. A cognitive neuroscientist by training, she investigates how the brain learns and uses predictable structure—particularly in the auditory domain—to optimise perception and attention across the human lifespan.
Education & Career Path
- BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD – Newcastle University (PhD supervised by Prof Chris Petkov)
- Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow – UCL Ear Institute, Cornell University, and Grinnell College
- Lecturer – Department of Psychology, Lancaster University
Research Focus
Dr Milne’s research centres on the neural and computational mechanisms that allow us to extract regularities from complex auditory scenes. Using high-temporal-resolution techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) and pupillometry, she asks how predictive information facilitates sound segregation, attention orienting, and language acquisition. Her work spans healthy adults, neurodiverse populations (e.g., dyslexia, developmental language disorder), and age-related change including dementia.
Key themes include:
- Auditory statistical learning on multiple timescales
- Neural signatures of attention lapses and listening effort
- Evolutionary origins of sequence processing in primates
- Impact of menopause and ageing on auditory cognition
Scientific Recognition
- Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship – Wellcome Trust
- European Commission Horizon2020 award (Cognitive Control of a Hearing Aid project)
- Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership Studentship
Funding & Collaborations
Current research is supported by the Wellcome Trust and benefits from collaborations with Prof Maria Chait (UCL), Prof Morten Christiansen (Cornell), and Dr Chris Conway (Grinnell). Dr Milne is open to student-led PhD projects and encourages early discussion of ideas aligned with auditory neuroscience, neurodiversity, or lifespan cognition.
Public Engagement & Outreach
Beyond the lab, she volunteers with Inspire! Education Business Partnership, Voice of Young Science, and has contributed to Seven Stories children’s literature centre and Newcastle University’s science magazine {REACT}.
