Sona Patel, Ph.D.

Assistant Provost for Academic Excellence and Assessment; Associate Professor
Department of Speech-Language Pathology

Additional Office: Interprofessional Health Sciences Campus, Room 440

I joined the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at Seton Hall University in 2014. Prior to that, I was at Northwestern University as an NIH/NIDCD trainee. I also spent some time abroad at the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences and University of Geneva (Switzerland) as a research scientist. With a background in signal processing, speech science and psychology, I bring an interdisciplinary perspective to the speech and hearing sciences. Specifically, my unique background allows me to look at complex issues from the perspective of multiple disciplines and synthesize the various explanations to develop a more complete picture than would be possible from any one discipline alone. I encourage my students to take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding topics in speech-language pathology, as it will provide them with the broad perspective required for becoming an effective clinician and working in cross-disciplinary teams.

I am also Director of the Voice Analytics and Neuropsychology Lab (VAN Lab). My research is one of the few that examines the link between the behavioral and neurological aspects (EEG, fMRI) of voice and prosody for the development of neuropsychological measures to predict speaker states (emotion, health, etc.). I am particularly interested in measures that describe and differentiate neurological diseases (such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's related dementia) and impairments. We are currently using an integrated approach of voice analysis and electroencephalography (EEG) or functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data to identify differences in timing and the interactions between the various brain regions involved in these processes. Other projects ongoing in the lab include modeling of speaker characteristics,such as the speaker's physical and personality traits (e.g., voice attractiveness) and psychological states and intentions (e.g., vocal stress and disagreement in social interactions), from his/her tone-of-voice or prosody, and relatedly, investigations of the neural representation of emotional expressions through prosody using fMRI in healthy adults and adults with Parkinson's disease.

Considering the many disciplines involved in my research, I welcome student participation from a variety of backgrounds and interests.

Some Past and Current Collaborations: Dr. Charles Larson (Northwestern University), Dr. David Eddins (University of South Florida), Dr. Don Robin (University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio), Dr. Johan Sundberg, Dr. John C. Rosenbek (University of Florida), Dr. Rahul Shrivastav (Michigan State University), Dr. Sascha Frühholz (Swiss Center for Affective Sciences), Prof. Didier Grandjean (University of Geneva), Prof. Klaus R. Scherer (Swiss Center for Affective Sciences).