Title: Assistant Professor
Graduate School: The University of Texas at Austin
Research Interests:
Our laboratory is interested in pursuing a better understanding human auditory information processing. A primary focus relates to auditory information processing associated with child language and cognition, as well as examining the difficulties some children experience with language and cognitive development. We use both physiological and behavioral measures to study information processing mechanisms that support language development, specifically sensory, attention, and memory mechanisms supporting auditory language processing.
Current lab projects include studying hearing acuity and phonology in a group of school-age children with Williams syndrome. WS is a neurogenetic developmental disorder (a microdeletion of genes on chromosome 7) characterized by an uneven profile of language strengths and weaknesses. We have shown that contrary to popular, anecdotal reports, children with Williams syndrome do not have excellent auditory sensitivity; but in fact, are likely to have mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss (approximately 70% of school-age children).
An outgrowth of this first study is the investigation of auditory acuity in another genetic condition, supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS), and in individuals with anomalous duplications in the WS region. SVAS is due to a point mutation on chromosome 7. The primary purposes of these studies are to test current hypotheses of strong correlations between auditory processing, auditory memory and language. An ancillary goal arising from the hearing loss in WS data is to evaluate the role of elastin in auditory function.
View Dr. Marler's CV (PDF: 48K)
