Dr. Ahveninen’s mission is to apply novel and improved techniques to achieve more accurate estimates of human brain function than previously achieved. His work focuses on neuroimaging of human auditory system, auditory working memory and higher-order auditory cognition using techniques including fMRI, MEG/EEG and TMS/EEG. In his initial work at the Martinos Center, he used these techniques to elucidate the functional subsystems of human auditory cortex and to examine how attention and information from other sensory systems affect auditory processing.
Currently, he leads a project that pursues neuronal mechanisms of auditory working memory using fMRI-guided MEG/EEG and simultaneous TMS/EEG in healthy subjects, as well as intracranial EEG recorded from human pre-surgical patients. His second project examines novel ways to infer feedback and feedforward influences from non-invasive neuroimaging data using ultra-high-resolution 7T fMRI and MEG/EEG. In his third major project, he and his colleagues use “model free” neuroimaging approaches to map the intrinsic functional organization of human AC in individual subjects. The work they conduct in these projects is supported by NIDCD. In addition to his primary projects, he contribute to the development of novel data analysis methods and clinical cognitive neuroimaging studies on brain disorders and dysfunctions.
Education
PhD in Psychology, University of Helsinki, Finland
Select Publications
1. Ahveninen J, Jaaskelainen IP, Raij T, Bonmassar G, Devore S, Hamalainen M, et al. Task-modulated “what” and “where” pathways in human auditory cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006;103(39):14608-13.
2. Ahveninen J, Hamalainen M, Jaaskelainen IP, Ahlfors SP, Huang S, Lin FH, et al. Attention-driven auditory cortex short-term plasticity helps segregate relevant sounds from noise. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011;108(10):4182-7.
3. Ahveninen J, Huang S, Nummenmaa A, Belliveau JW, Hung AY, Jaaskelainen IP, et al. Evidence for distinct human auditory cortex regions for sound location versus identity processing. Nat Commun. 2013;4:2585.