CURRICULUM VITAE
speech perception
spoken word recognition
predictive coding
word learning
second language acquisition
multilingualism
electroencephalography
source analysis
intracranial recordings
machine learning
eye-tracking
visual world paradigm
EDUCATION
PhD - University of Iowa - Iowa City, IA
Presidential Graduate Research Fellow
Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Dissertation: To /b/ or not to /b/: Characterizing the neural timecourse of speech perception
Mentor: Bob McMurray, PhD
2015 - 2020
BA magna cum laude - University of Tennessee - Knoxville, TN
Chancellor's Honors Scholar & College Scholar
Major: Neuroscience and the Perception of Language
Minor: Portuguese Language & Literature
Honors Thesis: The effect of pedagogical condition on second language acquisition
Thesis Supervisor: Harriet Wood Bowden, PhD
2009 - 2013
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Postdoctoral Training - Villanova University - Villanova, PA
Postdoctoral Research Scholar
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Mentor: Joseph C. Toscano, PhD
2021 - present
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Word Recognition and Perception Lab
Postdoctoral Research Scholar
PI: Joseph C. Toscano, PhD
Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences
Villanova University
Villanova, PA, USA
2021 - present
Mechanisms of Audio-Visual Categorization Lab
Graduate Research Assistant
PI: Bob McMurray, PhD
Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA, USA
2015 - 2020
Human Auditory Neuroscience Group
Graduate Research Assistant
PI: Inyong Choi, PhD
University of Iowa
Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders
Iowa City, IA, USA
2018 - 2020
Graduate Research Assistant
PI: Matthew A. Howard III, MD
University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics
Department of Neurosurgery
Iowa City, IA, USA
2016 - 2020
Infant Language & Perceptual Learning Lab
Undergraduate Research Assistant
PI: Jessica S.F. Hay, PhD
Department of Psychology
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN, USA
Language Acquisition & Cognition Lab
Undergraduate Research Assistant
PI: Harriet Wood Bowden, PhD
Department of Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN, USA
2009 - 2012
2012 - 2014
Undergraduate Summer Research Assistant
PI: Jo-Anne Bachorowski, PhD
Department of Psychology
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN, USA
2010 - 2012
honors & AWARDS
2019 • Travel Award for Advances & Perspectives in Auditory Neuroscience and Society for Neuroscience Conference, Dept. of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Iowa
2019 • Gloria Lee Service Award, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Iowa
2019 • Fellowship Incentive Award, Graduate College, University of Iowa
2018 • Travel Award for Acoustical Society of America Conference, Dept. of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Iowa
2016 • Fellowship Incentive Award, Graduate College, University of Iowa
2015 • Travel Award for Society for Neuroscience Conference, Dept. of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Iowa
2015 • Presidential Graduate Research Fellowship, Graduate College, University of Iowa
2013 • Best Poster Award, Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement, University of Tennessee
2012 • Study Abroad Grant, Chancellor’s Honors Program, University of Tennessee
2012 • Study Abroad Grant, Center for International Education, University of Tennessee
2012 • Alvin and Jane Nielsen Memorial Scholarship, University of Tennessee
2010 • Frederick T. Bonham Scholarship, University of Tennessee
2009 • HOPE Scholarship with General Academic Merit Supplement, University of Tennessee
2009 • University of Tennessee Volunteer Scholarship, University of Tennessee
2009 • Achieve the Dream Grant, University of Tennessee
professional development
2021 • Supporting from Identities Workshop, Villanova University
2021 • Safe Zone LGBTQ+ Awareness & Allyship Training, Villanova University
2021 • Faculty Writing Cooperative, Villanova University
2020 • ERP Decoding Webinar, University of California, Davis
2020 • Academics for Black Survival and Wellness Workshop & Webinar, University of Florida
2018 • Writing Initiative in Neuroscience, University of Iowa
2017 • ERP Boot Camp, University of California, Davis, & National Institute of Mental Health
2012 • Grant Writing Workshop, University of Tennessee & National Institutes of Health
RESEARCH
PUBLICATIONS
MANUSCRIPTS
Sarrett, M.E., Rhone, A.E., Shea, C., Hendrickson, K., Muegge, J.B., Kovach, C.K., Dlouhy, B.J., & McMurray, B. (in prep). Decoding within- and between-language lexical competition from intracranial EEG: a neurosurgical case report of a pediatric Spanish-English bilingual.
Kocsis, Z., Jenison, R.L., Cope, T.E., Taylor, P.N., McMurray, B., Rhone, A.E., Sarrett, M.E., Kikuchi, Y., Gander, P.E., Berger, J.I., Kovach, C.K., Calmus, R.M., Choi, I., Greenlee, J.D., Kawasaki, H., Griffiths, T.D., Howard III, M.A., & Petkov, C.I. (in prep). Immediate causal impact of disconnecting a neural hub in the human brain.
Sarrett, M.E. & Toscano, J.C. (in prep). Decoding speech sounds from neurophysiological data: practical considerations and theoretical implications.
Sarrett, M.E. and McMurray, B. (in prep). Timecourse of bottom-up and top-down language processing during a picture-based semantic priming task.
McMurray, B., Sarrett, M.E., Chiu, S.L., Black, A.K., and Aslin, R. (under review). Decoding the neural dynamics of spoken word recognition from EEG.
Sarrett, M.E., Shea, C., and McMurray, B. (2021). Within- and between-language competition in adult second language learners: implications for language proficiency. Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1080/23273798.2021.1952283
Sarrett, M.E., McMurray, B., and Kapnoula, E. (2020). Dynamic EEG analysis during language comprehension reveals continuous and interactive cascades between perceptual processing and sentential expectations. Brain and Language, 211. DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2020.104875
other publications
Sarrett, M.E. (2020). To /b/ or not to /b/: Characterizing the neural timecourse of speech perception. Doctoral dissertation, University of Iowa. DOI: 10.17077/etd.005674.
Sarrett, M.E. (2013). The effect of pedagogical condition on second language acquisition. Honors Thesis, University of Tennessee. Available at Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange (TRACE).
PRESENTATIONS
INVITED TALKS
Sarrett, M.E. (2021, November). Characterizing cross-linguistic lexical competition in bilinguals and second language learners. Stanford Phonetics Lab, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
Sarrett, M.E. (2021, October). Language & the brain: understanding speech and quantifying linguistic processing. Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ.
Sarrett, M.E. & Toscano, J.C. (2021, May). Decoding speech information from neurophysiological data. Center for Mind & Brain. University of California, Davis, Davis, CA.
conferences
Sarrett, M.E., McMurray, B., & Toscano, J. (2021, December). Neural representations of speech: decoding bottom-up acoustics and examining top-down effects using electroencephalography. Poster presented at the 181st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Seattle, WA. Link to download.
Sarrett, M.E., Rhone, A.E., Shea, C., Hendrickson, K., Muegge, J.B., Kovach, C.K., Dlouhy, B.J., & McMurray, B. (2021, November). Decoding within- and between-language lexical competition from intracranial EEG: a neurosurgical case report of a pediatric Spanish-English bilingual. Poster presented at the virtual conference for Advances and Perspectives in Auditory Neuroscience. Link to download.
Kocsis, Z., Jenison, R.L., Cope, T.E., Taylor, P.N., McMurray, B., Rhone, A.E., Sarrett, M.E., Kikuchi, Y., Gander, P.E., Kovach, C.K., Balezeau, F., Choi, I., Greenlee, J.D., Kawasaki, H., Griffiths, T.D., Howard III, M.A., & Petkov, C.I. (2021, November). Acute impact of anterior temporal lobe disconnection on speech prediction and frontal-auditory neural signals. Poster presented at the virtual conference for Advances and Perspectives in Auditory Neuroscience.
Sarrett, M.E., McMurray, B., & Toscano, J.C. (2021, November). Contributions of bottom-up and top-down processes in speech cue encoding: evidence from EEG and machine learning techniques. Poster presented at the virtual 62nd annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society.
Kocsis, Z., Jenison, R.L., Cope, T.E., Taylor, P.N., McMurray, B., Rhone, A.E., Sarrett, M.E., Kikuchi, Y., Gander, P.E., Kovach, C.K., Balezeau, F., Choi, I., Greenlee, J.D., Kawasaki, H., Griffiths, T.D., Howard III, M.A., & Petkov, C.I. (2021, November). Acute impact of anterior temporal lobe disconnection on fronto-temporal neural signals. Poster presented at the Society for Neuroscience meeting, Chicago, IL.
Sarrett, M.E., Shea, C., and McMurray, B. (2020, November). Crosslinguistic lexical activation in Spanish second language learners. Poster presented at the virtual meeting of the Psychonomic Society.
McMurray, B., Sarrett, M.E., Chiu, S.L., Black, A.K., and Aslin, R. (2020, November). Decoding the neural dynamics of spoken word recognition from EEG. Paper presented at the virtual meeting of the Psychonomic Society.
Kocsis, Z., Jenison, R.L., McMurray, B., Rhone, A.E., Sarrett, M.E., Gander, P.E., Choi, I., Berger, J.I., Taylor, P.N., Kawasaki, H., Greenlee, J.D., Kovach, C.K., Griffiths, T.D., Howard III, M.A., & Petkov, C.I. (2020, October). Anterior temporal lobe surgical disconnection disrupts neural responses to speech along the human auditory cortical network. Poster presented at the virtual meeting for Advanced Perspectives in Auditory Neuroscience.
Black, A., McMurray, B., Sarrett, M.E., Chiu, S., Canale, B., Wang, A., & Aslin, R.N. (2019, October). Machines vs. musheems: neural decoding of words from nonwords. Paper presented at the NTNU-Haskins Laboratories Joint Workshop on Language Acquisition, Statistical Learning, and fNIRS Applications. Taipei, Taiwan.
Sarrett, M.E., Schreiber, K., Kawasaki, H., Howard III, M.A., & McMurray, B. (2019, October). The effect of lexical status on acoustic encoding in human auditory and perisylvian language cortices: Preliminary results from intracranial recordings. Poster presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience Conference, Chicago, IL, USA.
Kocsis, Z., Jenison, R.L., McMurray, B., Rhone, A.E., Sarrett, M.E., Gander, P.E., Nourski, K.V., Steinschneider, M., Calmus, R.M., Kawasaki, H., Greenlee, J.D., Kovach, C.K., Griffiths, T.D., Howard III, M.A., & Petkov, C.I. (2019, October). Anterior temporal lobe disconnection disrupts auditory cortical oscillatory neural responses to speech in the human brain. Poster presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience Conference, Chicago, IL, USA.
Sarrett, M.E., Kapnoula, E., & McMurray, B. (2018, November). Realtime integration of acoustic input and semantic expectations in speech processing: evidence from electroencephalography (and preliminary results from electrocorticography). Poster presented at the 176th Annual Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Victoria, BC, Canada.
Sarrett, M.E., Kapnoula, E., & McMurray, B. (2018, July). Realtime integration of acoustic cues and semantic expectations in speech processing. Poster presented at the 40th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Madison, WI, USA
Sarrett, M.E. & Bowden, H. (2013, March). The effect of pedagogical condition on second language acquisition. Paper presented at the 80th Annual South Eastern Conference on Linguistics (SECOL), Spartanburg, SC, USA.
OTHER TALKS & PRESENTATIONS
Sarrett, M. E., McMurray, B., & Shea, C. (2021, April). Cross-linguistic activation in Spanish second language learners: evidence from the Visual World Paradigm. Poster presented at the Language Sciences Symposium. Villanova University, Villanova, PA.
Sarrett, M. E., Schreiber, K., Howard, M. A., Kawasaki, H., & McMurray, B. (2019, April). The effect of lexical status on acoustic encoding in human auditory cortex: preliminary results from intracranial recordings. Poster presented at Auditory Neuroscience Research Day. University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
Sarrett, M. E., Schreiber, K., Howard, M. A., Kawasaki, H., & McMurray, B. (2018, October). The effect of lexical status on acoustic encoding in human auditory cortex: preliminary results from intracranial recordings. Poster presented at Neuroscience Graduate Program Research Day. University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
Sarrett, M. E., Kapnoula, E., & McMurray, B. (2017, November). Contextual influences on speech perception. Poster presented at Neuroscience Graduate Program Research Day. University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
Sarrett, M. E. (2013, April). The effect of pedagogical condition on second language acquisition. Paper presented at the Undergraduate Research Symposium at the University of Tennessee. Knoxville, TN.
Sarrett, M. E. (2013, March). The effects of pedagogical conditions on second language acquisition. Poster presented at the Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement (EUReCA). University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN.
GRANTS
2017 • Interdisciplinary Research Grant: Second Language Acquisition: Integrated or Separate Lexica, Development and Learnin from Theory to Application (DeLTA) Center, University of Iowa. Role: Principal Investigator.
TEACHING
Instructor
Spring 2022 (upcoming) • Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience Seminar, Villanova University
graduate teaching assistant
Fall 2019 • Lab in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Iowa
Fall 2019 • Research Methods & Data Analysis in Psychology II, University of Iowa
Fall 2017 • Graduate Teaching Assistant, Elementary Psychology, University of Iowa
undergraduate teaching assistant
Fall 2012 • Honors Seminar: The Hard Problem of Consciousness, University of Tennessee
Fall 2011 • Honors Seminar: Analysis & Visualization of Big Data, University of Tennessee
guest lecturer
Fall 2021 • Minds, Brains, & Machines, Villanova University
Fall 2021 • Contemporary Research Issues in Psychology, Villanova University
Spring 2021 • Contemporary Research Issues in Psychology, Villanova University
Spring 2021 • Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience Seminar, Villanova University
Spring 2020 • Scientific Communication in Psychology, University of Iowa
Spring 2019 • Introduction to Hearing Science, University of Iowa
Spring 2019 • The Psychology of Language, University of Iowa
Spring 2018 • Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Iowa
Fall 2017 • The Psychology of Language, University of Iowa
informal research mentoring
2021 - present • Alexa Gonzalez, graduate student in Psychological & Brain Sciences; currently completing Master's degree
2021 - present • Lili DeFillipis, undergraduate Psychology major; currently completing Bachelor's degree
2018 - 2020 • Samantha L. Chiu, post-baccalaureate research assistant; outcome: PhD program in Psychological & Brain Sciences
2019 - 2020 • Nicole Coates, undergraduate Neuroscience major; currently completing Bachelor's degree
2018 - 2019 • Hianca Pinho, undergraduate Psychology major; outcome: Master's program in Public Health
2018 - 2019 • Elizabeth "Elle" Larson, undergraduate Psychology major; currently completing Bachelor's degree
2018 - 2019 • Navin L. Iyer, undergraduate Neuroscience major; outcome: Master's program in Public Health
2018 - 2019 • Meghan Wickham, undergraduate Speech & Hearing Science major; outcome: Master's program in Speech Pathology
2017 - 2018 • Megan Hill, undergraduate Speech & Hearing Science major; outcome: Master's program in Speech Pathology
2016 - 2018 • Hannah B. Johnson, Latham Science Engagement Initiative Fellow; outcome: Master's program in Cognitive Psychology
SERVICE
COLLEGE
2019 • Graduate student panelist for Grad School 101, University of Iowa
2019 • Graduate student panelist for National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) Program, University of Iowa
2018 • Graduate student panelist at the Biomedical Sciences Pre-Grad School Conference, University of Iowa
2015 - 2020 • Volunteer in the Girls Go STEM Annual Outreach Program, University of Iowa
department
2017 - 2020 • Student Co-Chair of the Neuroscience Graduate Admissions Committee, University of Iowa
2017 - 2020 • Student Co-Chair of the Neuroscience Graduate Recruitment Committee, University of Iowa
2015 - 2020 • Volunteer in the Eastern Iowa Brain Bee Committee, University of Iowa
2018 • Graduate student representative on the Graduate Student Wellness Committee, University of Iowa
2018 • Graduate student panelist at the Our Collective Brains Workshop, University of Iowa
2015 - 2017 • Volunteer for the Neuroscience Graduate Recruitment Committee, University of Iowa
2012 - 2013 • Governing Officer of NEURO, Club for the Advancement of Neuroscience, University of Tennessee
2010 - 2013 • Student Co-Chair of the College Scholars Admissions Committee, University of Tennessee
other professional service
2018 - 2020 • Content illustrator at Knowing Neurons | a creative neuroscience education website by young neuroscientists
AD-HOC REVIEWS
2021 • NeuroImage
2021 • Journal of Occupational Medicine & Toxicology
2021 • Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
2021 • Journal of Phonetics
2020 • eLife
TECHNICAL SKILLS
MATLAB (highly proficient)
Microsoft Office Suite (highly proficient)
R (proficient)
Adobe Illustrator (proficient)
Python (competent)
LaTeX (competent)
LANGUAGES
English (native speaker)
Brazilian Portuguese (fluent in written & spoken)
Spanish (good working knowledge in written & spoken)
Latin (good working knowledge, written only)