We have studied neurocognitive mechanisms of audiovisual perception of non-meaningful speech. We demonstrate different event-related brain potential (ERP) differences to non-speech and speech audiovisual stimuli. Our imaging studies show that viewing and listening to speech activate overlapping areas in the frontal cortex, which is also activated during speech production. We also demonstrate th...

We have studied neurocognitive mechanisms of audiovisual perception of non-meaningful speech. We demonstrate different event-related brain potential (ERP) differences to non-speech and speech audiovisual stimuli. Our imaging studies show that viewing and listening to speech activate overlapping areas in the frontal cortex, which is also activated during speech production. We also demonstrate th...

Foreign-accented speech often presents a challenging listening condition. In addition to deviations from the target speech norms related to the inexperience of the nonnative speaker, listener characteristics may play a role in determining intelligibility levels. We have previously shown that an implicit visual bias for associating East Asian faces and foreignness predicts the listeners' percept...

In an experimental study, we explored the role of auditory perception bias in vocal pitch imitation. Psychoacoustic tasks involving a missing fundamental indicate that some listeners are attuned to the relationship between all the higher harmonics present in the signal, which supports their perception of the fundamental frequency (the primary acoustic correlate of pitch). Other listeners focus ...

Motor theories of speech perception have been re-vitalized as a consequence of the discovery of mirror neurons. Some authors have even promoted a strong version of the motor theory, arguing that the motor speech system is critical for perception. Part of the evidence that is cited in favor of this claim is the observation from the early 1980s that individuals with Broca's aphasia, and therefore...

To investigate the nature of facial information involved in the integration of audiovisual speech perception, we examined the influence of facial views on the McGurk effect under two auditory conditions. While the speech perception of most of the audiovisual syllables used was little affected by the facial views and the auditory noise, a stronger McGurk effect was obtained for the 3/4-view imag...

When listeners encounter speech under adverse listening conditions, adaptive adjustments in perception can improve comprehension over time. In some cases, these adaptive changes require the presence of external information that disambiguates the distorted speech signals, whereas in other cases mere exposure is sufficient. Both external (e.g., written feedback) and internal (e.g., prior word kno...

Previous research has demonstrated that listeners make use of both auditory and visual information in bimodal speech perception. Preschool children appear to evaluate and integrate the two sources of information in the same manner as adults, but the children are less influenced by the visual source. The current experiments test a possible explanation of this difference and extend the question t...

We perceive identity, expression and speech from faces. While perception of identity and expression depends crucially on the configuration of facial features it is less clear whether this holds for visual speech perception. Facial configuration is poorly perceived for upside-down faces as demonstrated by the Thatcher illusion in which the orientation of the eyes and mouth with respect to the fa...