Information

Dr. Sukhbinder Kumar works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at University of Iowa (USA).

After receiving his Ph.D. from Newcastle University (UK), Dr. Kumar worked on brain mechanism of auditory perception, cognition and emotion processing. In particular, the aim was to use brain measurement techniques such as fMRI and MEG along with computational modelling to build system level models of auditory and emotion processing.

In more recent years, he has started working on Interoception, which is representation of bodily signals such as respiration and cardiac signals in the brain, and how it relates to emotion processing. At the University of Iowa, his focus will be on representation of respiration in different states (e.g. awake, unconsciousness under anesthesia) and brain mechanism of emotion processing, more specifically, misophonia.

His team’s recent work suggested involvement of motor and mirror neuron system in misophonia. In Iowa, he aims to continue this line of work to build a comprehensive neurobiological model of misophonia.

Notable Published Works

• The motor basis for misophonia [May 2021] by Sukhbinder Kumar, Pradeep Dheerendra, Mercede Erfanian, Ester Benzaquén, William Sedley, Phillip E. Gander, Meher Lad, Doris E. Bamiou and Timothy D. Griffiths [Journal of Neuroscience]

• The Brain Basis for Misophonia, [Feb. 2017] by Sukhbinder Kumar, Olana Tansley-Hancock, William Sedley, Phillip E. Gander, Doris-Eva Bamiou, Timothy D. Griffiths, et. al. [Current Biology]