Introduction
Everyday noise is known to increase listening effort and can lead to disengagement from conversations and social life. This PhD project aims to establish objective markers of engagement by measuring brain (EEG), physiological, and behavioral signals during listening and conversation. Our focus is on interpersonal synchrony—how signals align between people—which has been suggested to reflect attention and engagement. By examining how synchrony changes with background noise, social context, and hearing loss, this research aims to develop an objective measure of listening engagement and inform future improvements in hearing aids and social well-being.
The project is funded by the William Demant Foundation
Aims
To establish objective markers of engagement from brain (EEG), physiological and behavioral signals.
Methodology
We capture brain (EEG), heart rate (ECG), respiration and movement data in passive listening as well as conversations, with the focus of identifying patterns of synchrony that reflect engagement.
