Leslie Kwakye ’06

Biography

Leslie Kwakye is an associate professor of neuroscience and the director of the Office of Undergraduate Research.

I teach several classes in the area of sensory neuroscience including a non-majors class entitled, Neuroscience of the Arts, an advanced elective lecture and lab course on sensory neuroscience. I also teach a senior seminar entitled Mind, Brain, Eyes, and Ears.

My research investigates how the brain combines information from the different senses and how cognitive factors such as attention modulate this multisensory integration. My lab also studies how the complex relationship between attention and multisensory integration develops in children and whether it is altered in different groups of individuals such as musicians and those with developmental disorders.

My current project seeks to identify the neural mechanisms that underlie attentional alterations to multisensory timing perception using electroencephalography and Bayesian causal inference modeling.

Undergraduate researchers are strongly engaged in my research and contribute from the conception stage of new project all the way to writing manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

In my role as director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, I work with the Committee on UndergraduateResearch to support students seeking research opportunities, students actively engaged in research, and faculty mentoring of students conducting research. We also work to increase the availability of research opportunities for Oberlin students and to ensure equitable access to research.