Nick Audette

Nick Audette is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Connecticut (UConn). He leads the Audette Lab, established in January 2025 at the Storrs campus, where his team investigates how the brain integrates sensory input with environmental context and experience to enable perception. His research employs large-scale neural recordings in mice during acoustically enriched behaviors.

Dr. Audette earned his Ph.D. in 2018 from Carnegie Mellon University. His primary research areas include:

• Flexible sensory processing in thalamocortical circuits
• Neural mechanisms of learning and memory consolidation
• Movement-based predictions in auditory cortex
• Stimulus-specific prediction error encoding

His recent publications (2014-2025) demonstrate a consistent focus on predictive processing mechanisms in sensory systems. Key trends include:

• Thalamocortical plasticity during sensory learning
• Movement-related neural predictions in auditory cortex
• Stimulus-specific error detection neurons
• Translaminar circuit organization
• High-throughput analysis of neural plasticity

Methodologically, his work combines electrophysiology, behavioral paradigms, and advanced imaging techniques.

Dr. Audette currently advises two undergraduate researchers, Claudia and Ava, on a project developing high-throughput behavioral assays linking lever-press movements to auditory predictions in mice. The lab has secured space in UConn's Bousfield Psychology Building and plans electrophysiological investigations of sensory prediction encoding.