I'm a postdoctoral fellow in the CBU's Hearing & Language group. My main interest is how periodicity in the auditory environment (e.g., speech or music) is processed by the brain. Here, my focus is on neural oscillations as they might reflect a clever and efficient way of processing that our brain has developed: By aligning the high (or low) excitability phase of these oscillations with expected relevant (or irrelevant) events, the brain can selectively amplify or attenuate input. In my research, I'm using methods of high temporal (e.g., EEG/MEG) and spatial (e.g., MRI) resolution, sometimes combined with brain stimulation techniques (e.g., tACS) that can be used to selectively alter neural oscillations and measure the consequences of this modulation for behavior, perception, and neural activity.

More details can be found on my personal page.

Publications:

Zoefel B, Davis MH, in revision. Transcranial electric stimulation for the investigation of speech perception and comprehension. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, Special Issue “The neural basis of spoken language understanding: A review of current methods”.

Zoefel B, VanRullen R, 2016. EEG oscillations entrain their phase to high-level features of speech sound. NeuroImage 124, 16-23.

Zoefel B, VanRullen R, 2015. The role of high-level processes for oscillatory phase entrainment to speech sound. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 9, 651.

Zoefel B, Reddy Pasham N, Brüers S, VanRullen R, 2015. The ability of the auditory system to cope with temporal subsampling depends on the hierarchical level of processing. NeuroReport 26, 773-778.

Zoefel B, VanRullen R, 2015. Selective perceptual phase entrainment to speech rhythm in the absence of spectral energy fluctuations. J Neurosci 35, 1954-1964.

Zoefel B, Sokoliuk R, 2014. Investigating the rhythm of attention on a fine-grained scale: evidence from reaction times. J Neurosci 34, 12619-12621.

VanRullen R, Zoefel B, Ilhan B, 2014. On the cyclic nature of perception in vision versus audition. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 369, 20130214.

Zoefel B, Heil P, 2013. Detection of near-threshold sounds is independent of EEG phase in common frequency bands. Front Psychol 4, 262.

Heil P, Verhey JL, Zoefel B, 2013. Modelling detection thresholds for sounds repeated at different delays. Hear Res 296, 83-95

Zoefel B, Huster RJ, Herrmann CS, 2011. Neurofeedback training of the upper alpha frequency band in EEG improves cognitive performance. Neuroimage 54, 1427-1432,