We study individual variation in speech, language and listening skills. We ask:
1) How auditory learning contributes to speech and language capacities?
2) Whether these contributions change as a function of age, sensory status and rehabilitation?
3) What are the time-scales of speech learning? Are rapid gains maintained over time and is additional training neccessary?
Sensory systems remain changeable throughout life, but the implications of this plasticity are not clear. We think that auditory learning and plasticity serve to support speech processing in daily listening conditions as well as the use of hearing devices. Studies in the lab are designed to test different aspects of this hypothesis.