Prof Paul Iverson

My work primarily examines plasticity for speech perception (e.g., how the perceptual processes of individuals adapt as they learn their first language in childhood, learn additional language as adults, encounter unusual accents, use auditory prostheses such as cochlear implants, or understand speech under noisy conditions). My aims have been to investigate where and how adaptations are made in the speech processing pathway (e.g., in auditory, phonetic, phonological, or lexical processing), as well as how plasticity is altered by age and prior experience.

At present, much of my work examines these issues using EEG for both adults and infants, with a particular focus on accents and language learning. I've also been active in developing new training techniques to improve second-language phoneme perception, particularly using mobile devices such as the iPhone.

I also have research interests in music perception (e.g., musical timbre and auditory stream segregation).