Josh McDermott

Josh McDermott is a Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT and an Associate Investigator at the McGovern Institute. He holds roles as Associate Department Head and Principal Investigator of the Laboratory for Computational Audition. His work bridges psychology, neuroscience, and engineering to study auditory perception, with a focus on sound interpretation, hearing impairment treatments, and machine hearing systems.

Education includes a B.A. from Harvard (summa cum laude), an MPhil from University College London, and a PhD from MIT. Postdoctoral training included NYU and the University of Minnesota.

Research interests encompass computational principles of sound perception, natural sound statistics, music cognition, and machine hearing. Key areas include sound localization, auditory scene analysis, and the role of generative models in perception.

Recent publications highlight advancements in auditory neural networks, cross-cultural music perception, and noise schema processing. Awards include the Troland Research Award, BCS Excellence in Advising, and NSF CAREER Award.

Advising includes over 20 graduate students and postdocs, with notable contributions to auditory neuroscience and machine learning. Major grants support projects on auditory models and sensory systems. The lab develops tools like cochleagram generation and headphone screening software.

The Laboratory for Computational Audition operates at MIT, focusing on biological and computational approaches to hearing. Collaborations span engineering, psychology, and neuroscience to advance understanding of auditory processing.