Oliver Bones

Dr. Oliver Bones is a Lecturer in Psychology and Deputy Head of the Dubai School of Psychology at the University of Birmingham Dubai. He also serves as Head of Year 1 for the BSc Psychology program, where he teaches modules including Introduction to Psychobiology, Cognitive Psychology, Language and Communication, Neural Basis of Vision and Action, and Cognition and Ageing.

Education:

• BSc in Psychology, Sheffield Hallam University (2002)
• MSc in Audiology, University of Manchester (2011)
• PhD in Auditory Neuroscience, University of Manchester (2014)
• Higher National Diploma in Music Production

Dr. Bones' research lies at the intersection of auditory neuroscience and cognitive psychology, focusing on how humans perceive pitch, music, and speech. His work investigates the role of cognition in speech perception, the neural basis of musical harmony, and the impact of hidden, non-audiometric hearing loss on cognitive function. He is particularly interested in how hearing loss interacts with cognitive decline in older adults, and how musical experience influences subcortical pitch encoding.

His recent publications show a strong trend in auditory perception, neural representation of sound, and the cognitive mechanisms underlying music and speech processing. Many of his studies employ neuroimaging and electrophysiological methods to examine brainstem responses to complex auditory stimuli such as musical consonance and lexical tones. His work also extends to environmental sound classification and the formation of sound categories.

Scientific Involvement:

• Co-Investigator, Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority grant on psychological factors in childhood obesity

Dr. Bones advises undergraduate students as Head of Year 1 and contributes to curriculum development in psychology education. While formal PhD or Master's students are not listed, his collaborative research involves multiple institutions and interdisciplinary teams. He is based at the Dubai International Academic City campus, contributing to the growth of psychological science in the UAE.