Dr. Kerry Walker

Biography

Dr. Walker is a Tutorial Fellow in Medical Sciences at Exeter College, University of Oxford, where he teaches Biomedical Sciences and Pre-Clinical Medicine. He also serves as the Deputy Director for the Biomedical Sciences MBiomedSci degree. His research focuses on auditory neuroscience, particularly investigating how the brain interprets sound, from simple tones to complex, naturally occurring signals such as speech. Dr. Walker's research group aims to uncover the patterns of action potentials in auditory cortical neurons that encode key features of sound including pitch, timbre, and spatial location. To address their research questions, the group employs a variety of experimental and computational approaches. They utilize Neuropixels microelectrodes for precise recording of neuronal spiking responses in both anaesthetised and awake, behaving animals, as well as in vivo two-photon calcium imaging to visualize the activity of large populations of neurons in real-time. Moreover, psychophysical experiments are conducted to explore how both humans and animals perceive sound. In conjunction with these experimental methods, computational models of the auditory system are developed to generate predictions and conceptualize the experimental findings.

Research Interests

Experience