Neal F. Viemeister, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Psychology

E-MAIL: [email protected]

Psychoacoustics Lab

Research Interests:

A major focus our research is to relate basic aspects of human auditory perception to auditory physiology. An example is our continuing work on the “dynamic range problem”- how useful auditory perception over a huge dynamic range (120 dB) is mediated by auditory nerve fibers whose dynamic range typically is restricted to 30 dB. Our behavioral research on this fundamental problem has led to the development of provocative computational models of multiple aspects of auditory processing. We also have continuing research projects on other basic aspects of audition. These include projects on temporal processing, binaural hearing, pitch coding , and speech perception.

Most of our experimental research involves behavioral studies on persons with normal hearing. We also have collaborative research projects on the perceptual consequences of hearing loss and on the basic auditory capabilities of persons with cochlear implants. One goal of these projects is the development and refinement of auditory prosthetic devices. Another goal is to use these “abnormal” auditory systems to provide insights into normal auditory processing. Overall, the general goal of our research is to understand the biology and psychology of hearing.

More information about our current research


Selected Publications:

(For a comprehensive list of recent publications, refer to PubMed, a service provided by the National Library of Medicine.)


  • Byrne AJ, Viemeister NF, Stellmack MA. Discrimination of frequency variance for tonal sequences. J Acoust Soc Am. 2014;136(6):3172.
  • Byrne AJ, Stellmack MA, Viemeister NF. The salience of enhanced components within inharmonic complexes. J Acoust Soc Am. 2013;134(4):2631-4.
  • Viemeister NF, Byrne AJ, Stellmack MA. Spectral and level effects in auditory signal enhancement. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2013;787:167-74.
  • Byrne AJ, Viemeister NF, Stellmack MA. The effects of unmodulated carrier fringes on the detection of frequency modulation. J Acoust Soc Am. 2013;133(2):998-1003.
  • Stellmack MA, Viemeister NF, Byrne AJ, Sheft S. The effects of marker-related temporal cues on auditory gap-duration discrimination. Atten Percept Psychophys. 2013;75(1):121-31.
  • Byrne AJ, Wojtczak M, Viemeister NF. Forward masking of frequency modulation. J Acoust Soc Am. 2012;132(5):3375-86.

More publications

Former Graduate Students

  • Elizabeth Strickland (Ph.D. Psychology, 1994). Assistant Professor, Department of Audiology and Speech Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
  • Alberto Recio (Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, 1994). Research Associate, Department of Neurophysiology, University Of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Neal Viemeister