Language allows us to share our thoughts and feelings and to make social connections with others. To lose language is to leave someone isolated from others and to take away a fundamental part of what it is to be human. The CALC lab investigates the mechanisms that support language understanding and how these systems go wrong or are different in some individuals.
Our approach is unique in investigating language processing from a multi-modal perspective (e.g. through dynamic visual and auditory language) and in the application of digital signal processing (e.g. generating sounds with a computer) and advanced statistical methods (e.g. multivariate pattern based analyses of brain imaging data).
Our work addresses the following:
(1) The perception of clear and degraded speech
(2) The effect of modality on language processing
(3) The effect of musicianship on sensory processing
(4) The processing of taboo language
Our approach is unique in investigating language processing from a multi-modal perspective (e.g. through dynamic visual and auditory language) and in the application of digital signal processing (e.g. generating sounds with a computer) and advanced statistical methods (e.g. multivariate pattern based analyses of brain imaging data).
Our work addresses the following:
(1) The perception of clear and degraded speech
(2) The effect of modality on language processing
(3) The effect of musicianship on sensory processing
(4) The processing of taboo language
Key publications:
Evans, S., Price, C.J., Diedrichsen, J., Gutierrez-Sigut, E. & MacSweeney, M. (In Press). Speech and sign share partially overlapping representations. Current Biology.
Evans, S. and McGettigan, C. 2017. Comprehending auditory speech: previous and potential contributions of functional MRI. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience. 32 (7), pp. 829-846.
Evans, S. and Davis, M.H. 2015. Hierarchical organization of auditory and motor representations in speech perception: Evidence from searchlight similarity analysis. Cerebral Cortex. 25 (12), pp. 4772-4788.
*Evans, S., *Kyong, J.S., Rosen, S., Golestani, N., Warren, J.E., McGettigan, C., Mourão-Miranda, J., Wise, R.J.S. and Scott, S.K. 2014. The Pathways for Intelligible Speech: Multivariate and Univariate Perspectives . Cerebral Cortex. 24 (9).
Evans, S., Price, C.J., Diedrichsen, J., Gutierrez-Sigut, E. & MacSweeney, M. (In Press). Speech and sign share partially overlapping representations. Current Biology.
Evans, S. and McGettigan, C. 2017. Comprehending auditory speech: previous and potential contributions of functional MRI. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience. 32 (7), pp. 829-846.
Evans, S. and Davis, M.H. 2015. Hierarchical organization of auditory and motor representations in speech perception: Evidence from searchlight similarity analysis. Cerebral Cortex. 25 (12), pp. 4772-4788.
*Evans, S., *Kyong, J.S., Rosen, S., Golestani, N., Warren, J.E., McGettigan, C., Mourão-Miranda, J., Wise, R.J.S. and Scott, S.K. 2014. The Pathways for Intelligible Speech: Multivariate and Univariate Perspectives . Cerebral Cortex. 24 (9).