Principal Investigator
Defne Abur directs the Speech Biosignal Processing lab at the University of Groningen. She is an Assistant Professor of Speech & Speech Technology in the Computational Linguistics department and she is affiliated with the Research School for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurosciences. She received a B.S. in Engineering Science from Smith College, with a concentration in Biomathematics, where she performed research in hearing sciences and middle ear acoustics. She completed her doctoral work at Boston University in the Stepp Lab and focused on auditory contributions to speech motor control in voice disorders and Parkinson’s disease. At the University of Groningen, Dr. Abur’s lab examines a variety of biosignals to characterize typical and disrupted auditory function and speech production using an interdisciplinary approach combining engineering, hearing science, and speech science.
Doctoral Researchers
Thomas Tienkamp is a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen and conducts his research within the Speech Biosignal Processing lab. His research focuses on characterizing the acoustic and kinematic properties of speech in individuals who received surgical treatment for oral cancer. In the past, Thomas has worked together with the Netherlands Cancer Institute on acoustic changes following oral cancer treatment as well as with the Erasmus Medical Center to exploit lexical features to facilitate sentence processing in people with aphasia.
Teja Rebernik is a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen. Her research in the Speech Lab Groningen and the Speech Biosignal Processing lab focuses on speech motor control in Parkinson’s disease, which she studies using electromagnetic articulography and ultrasound tongue imaging. She has worked on several projects related to speech motor control, neurolinguistics and disordered speech.
Katharina Polsterer is a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen. She received her master’s degree in Language and Cognition from the University of Groningen in 2023 (thesis: Characterizing auditory-motor adaptation of vowel production across age). For her PhD, her NWO funded project investigates how cognition, sensory function, and aging influence speech motor control. This includes focusing on speech changes during aging as well as in Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
Master’s Students
Nikki Hoekzema is a master’s student in the Research Master for Language and Cognition. She has a BA in Linguistics and her general research interest lies within neurolinguistics. She is mainly interested in aphasia, awake brain surgery, but also in speech motor control. In the Speech Biosignal Processing Lab, she works on research related to disruptions in speech motor control related to typical aging as well as neurological impairment (e.g., Parkinson’s disease).
Valentine Lucquiault is a master’s student in the Language and Cognition Research Master at the University of Groningen. She holds a Master’s degree in cognitive engineering, and is mainly interested in cognitive linguistics and animal cognition. Her involvement with the Speech Biosignal Processing Lab stems from her work on an interdisciplinary project with Dr. Sanne Moorman (Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences).
Jiske Yonne Vos is a master’s student in Neurolinguistics at the University of Groningen. Holding a BA in Linguistics, she is mainly interested in psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics. Her thesis project within the Speech Biosignal Processing Lab examines whether there is a correlation between the degree of speech motor learning and declarative memory retrieval in typically developing young adults.
Xingfeng Yang is a is master’s student in the Research Master for Language and Cognition at the University of Groningen. He holds a BA in English. His primary academic interests revolve around sociophonetic variations in Standard Chinese and Sichuanese. Currently, he is engaged in research as part of the speech across aging project in the Speech Biosignal Processing Lab.
Wansu Zhu is a master’s student in Voice Technology at the University of Groningen. She holds a previous master’s degree in Language Sciences (Language Development). She is currently undertaking a thesis project focused on enhancing automatic speech recognition (ASR) performance for older adults using data augmentation techniques. Her interests primarily revolve around the speech production and perception of older adults, as well as speech technologies.
Lab Alumni
Master’s Students
Sasha Chaboksavar (MA, Neurolinguistics, University of Groningen, 2022). Master Thesis: Adaptive responses to vowel formant perturbations in persons with Parkinson’s disease and control speakers
Valentina Ciot (MA, Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Trento). Master Thesis: Acoustic measures of voice in Dutch speakers with and without Parkinson’s disease
Rachel d’Cruz (MA, European Master in Clinical Linguistics, University of Groningen, University of Ghent, University of Eastern Finland). Master Thesis: : Impact of age on acoustic and perceptual measures of voice quality