Faculty
Dr. Ewan Macpherson
Research Investigator, Central Systems Laboratory
E-mail:
Phone: (734) 615-5221
Fax: (734) 764-0014
Accomplishments
- Post-doctoral Fellowship in the Central Systems Laboratory here at the Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan. My post-doctoral advisor was John Middlebrooks.
- Ph.D. in Psychology, minor in Electrical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison. My advisor was Fred Wightman, and I worked in the Hearing Development Research Laboratory, located at the Waisman Center.
- M.Sc. in Physics, University of Waterloo. I worked with John Vanderkooy and Stanley Lipshitz in the Audio Research Group.
- B.Sc. in Engineering Physics, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
- One year of general science undergrad at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Research Projects
I am interested in the psychophysics and neurophysiological mechanisms of sound localization, and in particular the processing of "pinna" or spectral cues. I want to understand how the auditory system generates a percept of a sound source situated in space from the signals reaching the eardrums. Or, as my mother puts it when explaining what I do: How do we hear in three dimensions when we have only two ears? In the Central Systems Laboratory I have a unique opportunity to conduct parallel (human) psychophysical and (animal) neurophysiological studies.
Publications
- Macpherson, E.A. (1991): A computer model of binaural localization for stereo imaging measurement. J. Audio. Eng. Soc., 39(9): 604-622.
- Middlebrooks, J.C., Macpherson, E.A. & Onsan, Z.A. (2000): Psychophysical customization of directional transfer functions for virtual sound localization. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 108(6), 3088-3091.
- Macpherson, E.A. & Middlebrooks, J.C. (2000): Localization of brief sounds: Effects of level and background noise. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 108(4), 1834 1849.
- Middlebrooks, J.C., Xu, L., Furukawa, S., & Macpherson, E.A. (2001): Cortical neurons that localize sounds. The Neuroscientist, 8:73 83.
- Macpherson, E.A. & Middlebrooks, J.C. (2002): Listener weighting of cues for lateral angle: The duplex theory of sound localization revisited. J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 111(5):2219 2236
- Stecker, G.C., Mickey, B.J., Macpherson, E.A., & Middlebrooks, J.C. (2003): Spatial sensitivity in field PAF of cat auditory cortex. J. Neurophysiology, 89:2889-2903.
- Macpherson, E.A. & Middlebrooks, J.C. (2003): Vertical-plane sound localization probed with ripple-spectrum noise. J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 114:430-445
- Kileny P.R., Snorrason R.M., Zwolan T.A., Macpherson E.A., Middlebrooks J.C. (2004): Contralateral hearing aid benefit in patients with cochlear implants". International Congress Series 1273, 231-234, Elsevier.
- Sabin, A.T., Macpherson, E.A. & Middlebrooks, J.C. (2005): Human sound localization at near-threshold levels. Hearing Res., 199:124-34
- Stecker, G.C., Harrington, I.A., Macpherson, E.A., and Middlebrooks, J.C. (2005). Spatial sensitivity in the dorsal zone (field DZ) of cat auditory cortex. J Neurophysiology 94: 1267-1280.
- Macpherson, E.A. & Sabin, A.T. (2007): Binaural weighting of monaural spectral cues for sound localization. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 121(6): 3677- 3688
Other Activities
- I enjoy playing the Highland bagpipes, and from 2001-2005 I was the Pipe Major (musical director) of the Ann Arbor Pipes and Drums.
- My piping web page with tunes, a bibliography of papers on the acoustics of the bagpipes, etc.
- Macpherson E.A. (1998): The pitch and scale of the Great Highland Bagpipe. New Zealand Pipeband Magazine, Winter 1998: 3-5.
