Current Lab Members
Professor Patti Adank: Principal Investigator
My research focuses on the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying the robustness and flexibility of human spoken language The acoustic speech signal is inherently variable, for instance due to background noise, differences in speakers’ anatomy and physiology, speaking style, regional or socio-economic background, or language background. Yet speech perception remains remarkably stable, and listeners are even able to quickly adapt to novel variation sources of the acoustic signal, such as a speaker’s foreign or regional accent.
I combine behavioural and neuroimaging research. My behavioural research consists of studies on speech perception and production and my neuroimaging research focuses on the neural bases of on-line adaptation in spoken language comprehension and production. Past neuroimaging studies have reported the involvement of neural bases for speech production in speech comprehension tasks. However, this involvement is only present under adverse listening conditions, such as speech in noise, or when the signal has been distorted, for instance by time-compressing it. In my research I test the possibility that this involvement of production regions is specific to on-line adaptation and learning and underlies the robustness of human speech comprehension. My present and future research uses traditional psycholinguistic paradigms, and functional neuroimaging methods such as fMRI, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.
Recently, I got interested in the role of vocal imitation in speech and am exploring the possibility that both overt and covert imitation may optimise speech perception.
I combine behavioural and neuroimaging research. My behavioural research consists of studies on speech perception and production and my neuroimaging research focuses on the neural bases of on-line adaptation in spoken language comprehension and production. Past neuroimaging studies have reported the involvement of neural bases for speech production in speech comprehension tasks. However, this involvement is only present under adverse listening conditions, such as speech in noise, or when the signal has been distorted, for instance by time-compressing it. In my research I test the possibility that this involvement of production regions is specific to on-line adaptation and learning and underlies the robustness of human speech comprehension. My present and future research uses traditional psycholinguistic paradigms, and functional neuroimaging methods such as fMRI, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.
Recently, I got interested in the role of vocal imitation in speech and am exploring the possibility that both overt and covert imitation may optimise speech perception.
Takayuki Nagamine: Postdoc
I am interested in a broad range of topics related to speech and I like to learn new things. My interest broadly lies in foreign accents in second language (L2) speech production. I completed a teacher training in English language teaching in Japan and a master's course in Linguistics at UCL. In my PhD research at Lancaster University, I used ultrasound tongue imaging to investigate from articulatory/dynamic perspectives why English /l/ and /r/ sounds are difficult for L1 Japanese speakers to produce. I have also been involved in research projects employing electromagnetic articulography (EMA). At UCL, I'm currently involved in the Leverhulme-funded project “Speech production processes in resolving articulatory variation” with Professor Patti Adank, Dr Chris Carignan and Professor Adamantious Gafos (University of Potsdam, Germany). I'm excited to learn more about how speech works in the project, with new cool things including the Stimulus-Response Compatibility (SRC) tasks and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), combined with articulatory methods like EMA!
Hannah Wilt: PhD candidate
Having always been fascinated by language learning and development, I came to UCL in 2015 to complete my BSc in Psychology and Language Sciences. Throughout the degree, I grew a particular interest in neuroscience, and am currently on the MRes Speech, Language and Cognition programme. My research investigates the involvement of the motor cortex in learning to perceive non-native speech sounds. My MRes project explores this mechanism through a behavioural paradigm utilising the stimulus-response compatibility task, while my PhD research will employ further methods including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and eventually machine learning.
Rongru Chen: PhD candidate
During my undergraduate study of applied linguistics at Jinan University, China, I developed a keen interest in speech. I was fascinated by the way small building blocks of speech sounds could be combined to create beautiful streams of speech. As I pursued my Master's degree in Language Sciences (Speech Sciences) at UCL, my interest in speech extended to a cognitive psychology perspective. I became intrigued by the cognitive mechanisms behind speech processing and collaborated with Prof. Patti Adank on a project examining the involvement of phonological processing in the perceptual adaptation of noise-vocoded speech. Now, for my PhD project, I aim to delve deeper into the dynamics of listening effort during the process of perceptual adaptation of noise-vocoded speech, using both behavioural paradigms and pupillometry. Furthermore, I plan to explore using brain stimulation methods to alleviate listening efforts.
Xiyuan LI: PhD student
I am interested in the intersection between auditory cognitive neuroscience and speech sciences. My passion lies in unraveling the complexities of how humans process degraded speech signals such as noise-vocoded speech and understanding the oscillatory dynamics underlying speech perception. In my project, I combine EEG and eye-tracking techniques to study the role of visual cues in understanding degraded speech in natualistic settings.
Prior to joining UCL, I completed my BA in Linguistics and Speech Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and my MPhil in Linguistics at the University of Cambridge.
Prior to joining UCL, I completed my BA in Linguistics and Speech Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and my MPhil in Linguistics at the University of Cambridge.
Collaborators
Dr Helen Nuttall: Senior lecturer in Psychology, Lancaster UNiversity
I am passionate about speech, ears, brainstems, and brains. I currently work on Dr Adank and Dr Devlin's grant: 'Investigating speech motor resonances in spoken language understanding'. As part of this grant, my research focuses on establishing the role of the motor system in speech perception, and how motor areas work in concert with auditory regions to assist speech perception under challenging listening conditions. TMS, in combination with behaviour and neurophysiology, affords us a unique insight into the function of the neurobiological substrates involved in the speech processing network. In my PhD, I looked at how speech is represented in the subcortical auditory system, and how the subcortical representation of speech is modulated by peripheral and cortical influences. I will combine TMS with EEG in my future work to study the peripheral, subcortical, and cortical linkages in speech processing in adverse listening conditions.
distinguished alumni
Post-doctoral researchers:
Dr Antony Trotter - currently a teaching fellow at KCL
Dr Helen Nuttal - currently a senior lecturer at Lancaster University
Dr Sylvia Vitello - currently a researcher at Cambridge University Press and Assessment
PhD students:
Dr. Han Wang - currently a postdoctoral researcher at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
Dr Yuchunzi (Shego) Wu - currently a postdoctoral researcher at New York University Shanghai
Dr Gwijde Maegherman - currently a lecturer at Queen Mary University of London
Dr Maximilian Paulus - currently a data scientist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Dr Dan Kennedy-Higgins - currently a senior lecturer at KCL
Julie Joubert - currently a research assistant at UCL
MSc and MRes students:
Yana Georgieva - MSc Language Sciences
Mengxiao zhou - MSc Language Sciences
Yutong Ye - MSc Language Sciences
Shutao Yi - MSc Language Sciences
Rina Cheng - MSc Language Sciences
Shengyue Xiong - MSc Language Sciences
Rongru Chen - MSc Language Sciences
Yu Yan - MSc Language Sciences
Alanoud Aldhuwaihy - MSc Language Sciences
Eliza Langenbach- MSc Language Sciences
Hayley Tseng - MSc Student
Anna Krivoshlykova - MSc Student
Grace Washbourn - MSc Speech and Language Sciences
Adam Ruzicka - MRes SLC
Jasmine Virhia - MSc Language Sciences
Amy Hall - MSc Language Sciences
BSc and MSci students:
Amy Au - MSci Psychology and Language Sciences
Luqman Tajul Azmir - BSc Psychology and Language
Anne-Charlotte Ziegler - BSc Psychology and Language