October 2025
Hearing loss and brain health research highlighted at USC
USC featured TAN Lab work examining how hearing loss may contribute to cognitive decline and how earlier intervention could support brain health.
Read lab news →Hearing · Brain · Communication
How hearing and the brain shape communication.
The TAN Lab studies the sensory, neural, and cognitive mechanisms of speech perception—especially in people with hearing loss and cochlear implants—to advance more precise, personalized hearing care.
University of South Carolina
Arnold School of Public Health
Communication Sciences & Disorders
from sound → perception → brain
The questions that drive us
Why do people with similar hearing loss experience very different speech-understanding outcomes?
How do sensory and cognitive systems interact when listening becomes difficult?
Can hearing technology and individualized intervention protect communication and brain health?
Research
From auditory input to real-world outcomes.
We combine auditory psychophysics, speech perception, signal processing, and neuroimaging to understand individual differences—and translate that knowledge into better assessment and intervention.
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Speech in noise & auditory cognition
Understanding how hearing, cognitive resources, and listening demands interact in complex communication environments.
Cochlear implants & personalized hearing
Studying spectral resolution, electrode-neuron interactions, and perceptual variability to improve CI outcomes and programming.
Hearing, cognition & brain health
Examining pathways linking age-related hearing loss with cognitive decline, psychosocial health, brain aging, and dementia risk.
Auditory neuroscience & neuroimaging
Using fNIRS, MRI, EEG, behavioral methods, and computational tools to study sensory and neural mechanisms of communication.
Our approach
Mechanism → measurement → personalized intervention.
Our work begins with a simple clinical reality: people with similar hearing thresholds or similar devices can have dramatically different communication outcomes.
We study the mechanisms behind that variability so that hearing care can move beyond one-size-fits-all measures toward person-specific assessment, prediction, and treatment.
PsychophysicsSpeech perceptionSignal processingfNIRSMRI / DTIEEG
Principal InvestigatorMeisam K. Arjmandi, Ph.D.
The Arjmandi Lab
Translational science at the intersection of hearing and the brain.
Dr. Arjmandi directs the Translational Auditory Neuroscience Lab in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of South Carolina. His research integrates auditory neuroscience, speech perception, biomedical engineering, and neuroimaging to understand and improve communication outcomes in people with hearing loss.
Lab highlights
Research, people, and progress.
The independent site will become the living record of TAN Lab publications, presentations, student accomplishments, grants, and community impact.
October 2025
Brain atrophy and speech-in-noise recognition
Doctoral student Samin Ashjaei presented work on regional brain atrophy and word recognition in noise among older adults.
April 2025
Undergraduate honors research
TAN Lab students completed honors theses spanning hearing, cognition, speech, and communication.
2024
National recognition at ASHA
Collaborative TAN Lab work received Visionary Session and Meritorious Poster recognition.
Participate · Train · Collaborate
Help us move hearing science forward.
We welcome research participants and inquiries from undergraduate and graduate students, clinicians, engineers, neuroscientists, and collaborators interested in hearing, cochlear implants, cognition, and brain health.
Ways to work with us →