Lab Members

Principal Investigator

  • Erin Picou

    Associate Professor
    Office Address
    215 21st Ave South, Nashville TN 37232
    Room / Suite
    10336
    Nashville
    Tennessee
    37232

    Erin Picou is an associate professor in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She currently directs the Hearing and Affect Perception Interest (HAPI) laboratory, which is funded through a variety of industry and federal sources. Her research interests are related to hearing aid technologies for adults and children, with a specific focuses on speech recognition, listening effort, and emotion perception. Erin is currently serving as the Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Audiology. In addition to her research activities, Erin is involved with teaching and mentoring clinical and research doctoral students. Outside of work, Erin enjoys spending time with her family, biking, hiking, and traveling.

    Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-picou-8bb218249/

    Twitter: @VandyDMHARL

    Selected publications

    Emotion:

    Picou, E. M. (2016). How hearing loss and age affect emotional responses to nonspeech sounds. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 59(5), 1233 - 1246. doi:10.1044/2016_JSLHR-H-15-0231

    Buono, G. H., Crukley, J., Hornsby, B. W., & Picou, E. M. (2021). Loss of high-or low-frequency audibility can partially explain effects of hearing loss on emotional responses to non-speech sounds. Hearing Research, 401, 108153. doi:10.1016/j.heares.2020.108153

    Picou, E. M., Rakita, L., Buono, G. H., & Moore, T. M. (2021). Effects of increasing the overall level or fitting hearing aids on emotional responses to sounds. Trends in Hearing, 25, 1-13. doi:10.1177/23312165211049938

    Picou, E. M., Lewis, D., Angley, G., & Tharpe, A. M. (2020). Rerouting hearing aid systems for overcoming limited useable unilateral hearing in dynamic classrooms Ear and Hearing, 41(4), 790-803. doi:10.1097/AUD.0000000000000800

    Picou, E. M., Davis, H., & Tharpe, A. M. (2020). Considerations for choosing microphone technologies for students with limited useable hearing unilaterally. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(1), 74 - 83. doi:10.1044/2019_LSHSS-OCHL-19-0018

    Picou, E. M., Gordon, J., & Ricketts, T. A. (2016). The effects of noise and reverberation on listening effort for listeners with normal hearing. Ear and Hearing, 37(1), 1-13. doi:10.1097/AUD.0000000000000222

    Picou, E. M., & Ricketts, T. A. (2014). The effect of changing the secondary task in dual-task paradigms for measuring listening effort. Ear and Hearing, 35(6), 611-622. doi:10.1097/AUD.0000000000000055

    Moore, T. M., & Picou, E. M. (2018). A potential bias in subjective ratings of mental effort. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61, 2405-2421. doi:10.1044/2018_JSLHR-H-17-0451

Staff

  • Kjersten Branscome

    Research Audiologist
    Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences
    615-936-5087
    Vanderbilt University Medical Center
    1215 21st Ave South,
    Room / Suite
    10302
    Nashville
    Tennessee
    37232

    Kjersten Branscome is a Research Audiologist in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She received her master’s degree in audiology from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and her Au.D. from the University of Florida. Kjersten worked as a clinical audiologist before joining the research team at Vanderbilt in October 2018. She is responsible for managing research studies in the Dan Maddox Hearing Aid Research Laboratory and assists on projects for the Hearing and Communication Research Laboratory. When not at work, Kjersten enjoys spending time with her family, walking, reading, and baking.

Graduate Students

  • Haiping Huang

    Ph.D. Student
    Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences
    615-482-9861
    Office Address
    1215 21st Ave South
    Room / Suite
    10318
    Nashville
    Tennessee
    37232

    Haiping is a 3rd year PhD student in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is mentored by Dr. Erin Picou. His research interests are listening effort, emotion perception, and amplification. Haiping completed his minor in Quantitative Methods from Vanderbilt Peabody College in 2023. He is excited to start his teaching experience and continue his journey on the research land in the Fall! Outside the lab, Haiping enjoys cooking, traveling, and spending time with friends.

    Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haiping-huang-vandy/

    Twitter: @HaipingHuang1

    Research Information

    Listening effort:

    Huang, H., Ricketts, T. A., Hornsby, B. W., & Picou, E. M. (2022). Effects of critical distance and reverberation on listening effort in adults. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 65(12), 4837-4851.

    Huang, H., Oosthuizen, I., & Picou, E. M. (2023, March). Dual-Task Paradigm Measures of Listening Effort: To Include or Not to Include Secondary Task Responses with Incorrect Primary Task Responses. In Seminars in Hearing (Vol. 44, No. 02, pp. 155-165). 333 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001, USA: Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.