Public Health and Health Professions
Genetics of Auditory and Visual Perception and Plasticity Lab (GAPP Lab)
Led by Tracy Centanni · Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
What we study
The GAPP Lab studies the genetic and brain bases of hearing and visual perception, with a focus on music, speech, reading and dyslexia. It tests non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation to improve reading, speech production after acquired apraxia, and speech-in-noise perception in veterans with brain injury.
What working here is like
- Clinical
- Computational
- Human participants
- Coding required
- Projects
- 3
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Noninvasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Improving Speech Production in Acquired Apraxia
Using brain stimulation to help people with speech disorders.
Noninvasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Improved Speech-in-Noise Perception in Veterans with TBI
Improving speech understanding in veterans with brain injuries using brain stimulation.
Show 1 more projectsShow fewer
Influence of Cerebellar Low Frequency Oscillations on Language Perception in Dyslexia
The lab looks at how brain waves in the cerebellum affect language understanding in people with dyslexia. Students use a speech task and brain‑sensing equipment to compare brain activity between dyslexic and typical readers.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 149
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Use of a predictor cue during a speech sound discrimination task in a Cntnap2 knockout rat model of autism
2025 · PLoS ONE
Tests whether a gene linked to autism affects rats' ability to predict sounds in speech.
- Complex Pitch Perception Deficits in Dyslexia Persist Regardless of Previous Musical Experiences
2025 · Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research
Finds that people with dyslexia struggle with complex pitch sounds, even with music training.
Show 3 more papersShow fewer
- Parameter optimization of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation for second language learning in typically developing young adults
2024 · Journal of Neurolinguistics
Explores using brain stimulation to help adults learn a second language more effectively.
- A novel paradigm for measuring prediction abilities in a rat model using a speech-sound discrimination task
2024 · Behavioural Brain Research
- Auditory Category Learning in Children With Dyslexia
2024 · Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research
Shows that kids with dyslexia struggle with learning sound patterns, but not with rules.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Tracy Centanni hasn't set up this page yet. You can also look them up in the UF directory (search “Tracy Centanni”).