Karen Barrett, PhD

Assistant Professor
Institute for Health & Aging
[email protected]

Karen Chan Barrett, PhD, is an Assistant Professor jointly appointed at the Institute for Health & Aging (UCSF School of Nursing) and the Department of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery (UCSF School of Medicine). As an Auditory Cognitive Neuroscientist, Dr. Barrett’s research bridges neuroscience, music, and health to uncover the intricate relationships between artistic creativity, music perception, and cognitive aging. Her work focuses on enhancing music perception for cochlear implant users, using neural imaging and cognitive outcomes to study the neuroscience of creativity, and exploring the transformative power of the arts, particularly music, to improve health and well-being in older adults with dementia and their care partners.

Publications: 

Children engage neural reward structures for creative musical improvisation.

Scientific reports

Barrett KC, Jiradejvong P, Jacobs L, Limb CJ

Cochlear Implant Compression Optimization for Musical Sound Quality in MED-EL Users.

Ear and hearing

Gilbert ML, Deroche MLD, Jiradejvong P, Chan Barrett K, Limb CJ

Multi-Voiced Music Bypasses Attentional Limitations in the Brain.

Frontiers in neuroscience

Barrett KC, Ashley R, Strait DL, Skoe E, Limb CJ, Kraus N

Perception of Child-Directed Versus Adult-Directed Emotional Speech in Pediatric Cochlear Implant Users.

Ear and hearing

Barrett KC, Chatterjee M, Caldwell MT, Deroche MLD, Jiradejvong P, Kulkarni AM, Limb CJ

Impact of Auditory-Motor Musical Training on Melodic Pattern Recognition in Cochlear Implant Users.

Otology & neurotology : official publication of the American Otological Society, American Neurotology Society [and] European Academy of Otology and Neurotology

Chari DA, Barrett KC, Patel AD, Colgrove TR, Jiradejvong P, Jacobs LY, Limb CJ

Encyclopedia of Creativity. Volume 1. Runco, M. Pritzker, S. (Eds),

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and the Neural Correlates of Artistic Creative Production.

Chan Barrett, K., Limb, C.J.

Unveiling artistic minds: case studies of creativity.

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences

Karen Chan Barrett, Charles J. Limb

Association Between Flat-Panel Computed Tomographic Imaging-Guided Place-Pitch Mapping and Speech and Pitch Perception in Cochlear Implant Users.

JAMA otolaryngology-- head & neck surgery

Jiam NT, Gilbert M, Cooke D, Jiradejvong P, Barrett K, Caldwell M, Limb CJ

A tonal-language benefit for pitch in normally-hearing and cochlear-implanted children.

Scientific reports

Deroche MLD, Lu HP, Kulkarni AM, Caldwell M, Barrett KC, Peng SC, Limb CJ, Lin YS, Chatterjee M

Art and science: how musical training shapes the brain.

Frontiers in psychology

Barrett KC, Ashley R, Strait DL, Kraus N

Specialization among the specialized: auditory brainstem function is tuned in to timbre.

Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior

Strait DL, Chan K, Ashley R, Kraus N