معرفی
Kai Alter is a Senior Lecturer in Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience at Newcastle University's Faculty of Medical Sciences, affiliated with the Biosciences Institute. They also serve as an Affiliated Lecturer at the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics and maintain collaborations with institutions including the University of Lisbon and Tuebingen University.
Their educational background includes:
- Habilitation from University of Leipzig (2002)
- PhD in Linguistics from University of Leipzig (1994)
- Post-grade in Linguistics from University of Geneva (1993)
- Post-grade in Phonetics from University of Lausanne (1993)
- Master in Linguistics from University of Leipzig (1990)
- Master in Russian Language from University of Belgorod (1988)
Dr. Alter's research focuses on auditory neuroscience, particularly speech and language processing using behavioral and neuro-imaging methods (EEG, MEG, fMRI) in both healthy volunteers and patients. Their work spans cognitive neuroscience, examining the comparison between language and music processing, neurocognition of prosody and intonation in children, turn taking in communication, tinnitus research, dyslexia and working memory, and laughter and brain interactions. They also investigate developmental aspects of speech & language processing, speech segmentation on phrase and discourse level, and processing of durational, tonal, and spectral properties related to voice.
Dr. Alter's publications reveal a strong focus on tinnitus research, emotional processing in laughter, and speech processing in neurological conditions. Their work combines multiple neuroimaging techniques to understand auditory processing mechanisms, with recent publications showing increasing interest in tinnitus as a neurological condition and its relationship to brain responses, as well as the neural basis of emotional vocalizations like laughter.
Notable scientific achievements include:
- Oxford Visiting Senior Research Fellowship (2015-2017)
- Honorary appointment as Research Associate in Neurology by the NHS Trust
- Associate Member of Laboratorio de Fonetica & Lisbon Baby Lab
- Research Associate at the Tuebingen University Hospital for Psychiatry
Dr. Alter has co-supervised 22 PhD students and 8 PDRAs, and currently co-supervises 5 PhD students and 1 PDRA. They have secured international and national grants totaling £1.8 million over the past 12 years. As a reviewer, they have evaluated proposals for numerous national and international Research Foundations including Human Frontier Science Program, ERC, German Research Foundation, Netherlands Organisation of Scientific Research, Austrian Research Foundation, French Research Foundation, MRC, ASRC, ESRC, and Wellcome Trust.
Dr. Alter co-convenes the cross-Faculty Research Group on Phonetics and Phonology at Newcastle University and maintains an active research program investigating the neural basis of speech and emotional vocalizations. Their work bridges cognitive neuroscience, linguistics, and clinical applications, particularly in understanding speech processing disorders and tinnitus.
