Carlos Benítez-Barrera, PhD

Position title: Assistant Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders

PhD, Vanderbilt University
Assistant Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders

Contact Information:

Waisman Center
1500 Highland Avenue
Room 539
Madison, WI 53705
608-265-2463
carlos.benitezbarrera@wisc.edu
Pediatric Auditory Experience and Brain Lab

Research Statement

Benitez-Barrera’s research focuses on the impact of early auditory experiences on behavioral and neural outcomes of children, particularly those at risk of communication delays. Dr. Benitez-Barrera is also interested in investigating neural correlates of speech-in-noise processing in the pediatric population. His research takes place at the Waisman Center, where he directs the Pediatric Auditory Experience and Brain lab.

Selected Publications

Benítez-Barrera, C. R., Denicola-Prechtl, K., Castro, S., & Maguire, M. J. (2025). A lot of noise about nothing? Speech-to-noise ratios rather than noise predict language outcomes in preschoolers. Journal of experimental child psychology, 252, 106173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106173
Key, A. P., Thompson, E. C., Benítez-Barrera, C., Feldman, J. I., Woynaroski, T., Picou, E., & Tharpe, A. M. (2024). Electrophysiological Measures of Listening-in-Noise With and Without Remote Microphone System Use in Autistic and Non-Autistic Youth. Ear and hearing, 45(3), 710–720. https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001465
Poudel, S., Denicola-Prechtl, K., Nelson, J. A., Behboudi, M. H., Benitez-Barrera, C., Castro, S., & Maguire, M. J. (2024). Rethinking household size and children’s language environment. Developmental psychology, 60(1), 159–169. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001650
Benítez-Barrera, C. R., Ramirez-Esparza, N., García-Sierra, A., & Skoe, E. (2023). Cultural differences in auditory ecology. JASA express letters, 3(8), 083601. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0020608
Benítez-Barrera, C. R., Key, A. P., Murray, M. M., Retsa, C., Ricketts, T. A., & Tharpe, A. M. (2023). Plasticity Changes in Central Auditory Systems of School-Age Children Following a Brief Training With a Remote Microphone System. Ear and hearing, 44(4), 803–815. https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001329
Benítez-Barrera, C., Reiss, L., Majid, M., Chau, T., Wilson, J., Rico, E. F., Bunta, F., Raphael, R. M., & de Diego-Lázaro, B. (2023). Caregiver Experiences With Oral Bilingualism in Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the United States: Impact on Child Language Proficiency. Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 54(1), 224–240. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_LSHSS-22-00095
Benítez-Barrera, C. R., Skoe, E., Huang, J., & Tharpe, A. M. (2022). Evidence for a musician speech-perception-in-noise advantage in school-age children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 65(10), 3996–4008. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00134
Benítez-Barrera, C. R., Key, A. P., Ricketts, T. A., & Tharpe, A. M. (2021). Central auditory system responses from children while listening to speech in noise. Hearing Research, 403, 108165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2020.108165
Benítez-Barrera, C. R., Grantham, D. W., & Hornsby, B. W. (2020). The challenge of listening at home: speech and noise levels in homes of young children with hearing loss. Ear and Hearing, 41(6), 1575-1585.
McDaniel, J., Benítez-Barrera, C. R., Soares, A. C., Vargas, A., & Camarata, S. (2019). Bilingual Versus Monolingual Vocabulary Instruction for Bilingual Children with Hearing Loss. Journal of deaf studies and deaf education, 24(2), 142–160. https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/eny042
Benítez-Barrera, C. R., Angley, G. P., & Tharpe, A. M. (2018). Remote Microphone System Use at Home: Impact on Caregiver Talk. Journal of speech, language, and hearing research: JSLHR, 61(2), 399–409. https://doi.org/10.1044/2017_JSLHR-H-17-0168