Einstein Experts

Elyse S. Sussman, Ph.D.

Professor, Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience

Professor, Otorhinolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery

Director, Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Rose F. Kennedy University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service

Autism/learning disabilitiesAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)Language development/language impairmentHearing

Dr. Sussman studies auditory scene perception, a crucial hearing skill that allows us to follow a single voice in a crowded room. Her research focuses on understanding how auditory cognition changes across the lifespan from infancy to old age and how it breaks down in individuals with developmental disorders (such as autism, language impairments and ADHD) and hearing impairments.

Dr. Sussman explores the relationship between automatic and controlled brain processes, and she was one of the first to show that auditory scene perception occurs even in the absence of attention. This work has important implications for improving medical technologies such as hearing aids and for developing prosthetic devices and computer models of speech perception.

Dr. Sussman serves as research editor of Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience and as a member of the NIH’s Cognitive Neuroscience Study Section. In 2000, she received the James A. Shannon Director's Award of the National Institute for Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.