Dr. Ed Large

Director, Music Dynamics Laboratory

Department of Psychological Sciences & Department of Physics

Dr. Large’s research areas include nonlinear dynamical systems, auditory neuroscience, and music psychology. He uses theoretical modeling in conjunction with behavioral, comparative, neurophysiological and neuroimaging techniques to understand how people respond to complex, temporally structured sequences of sound such as music and speech. He and his colleagues have pioneered the idea that attention is a dynamic, and inherently rhythmic process. He has applied these ideas to explain the rhythmic structure of music, and its interaction with brain dynamics. His current research projects include studies of driven nonlinear oscillator networks, nonlinear cochlear models, auditory brainstem neurodynamics, cortical dynamics of attention, perception of rhythm in music and speech, perception of tonality in music, auditory pattern recognition and learning, emotional communication in music, and rhythmic interactions in nonhuman primates.