Current Research

Projects in the lab focus on three major topics:

- Flexibility in native speech sound perception (behavioral, ERP, fMRI)
- Non-native speech sound acquisition (behavioral, ERP, fMRI)
- Functional and neural consequences of aphasia treatment (behavioral, fMRI)

Our techniques include:

- Behavioral psychophysics
- ERP (in collaboration with the Cog Sci Shared ERP Resource Lab: CSSERL)
- fMRI ( in collaboration with Haskins Laboratories, UConn's Brain Imaging Research Center)
- TMS (in collaboration with UConn's Brain Imaging Research Center)
- Eye-tracking and pupillometry

Publications

Please contact uconnmyerslab@gmail.com if you would like access to any of the publications below.

2024

Myers, E., Phillips, M., & Skoe, E. (2024). Individual differences in the perception of phonetic category structure predict speech-in-noise performance. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 156 (3) 1707-19. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0028583
Myers, E. B., Olson, H. E., & Scapetis-Tycer, J. (2024). Individual Differences in Accent Imitation. Open Mind, 8, 1084-1106. https://doi.org/10.1162/opmi_a_00161
Phillips, M. C., & Myers, E. B. (2024). Auditory Processing of Speech and Nonspeech in People Who Stutter. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. https://pubs.asha.org/doi/epdf/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-24-00107
Crinnion, A. M., Heffner, C. C., & Myers, E. B. (2024). Individual differences in the use of top-down versus bottom-up cues to resolve phonetic ambiguity. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-024-02889-4

2023

Myers, E.B., & Fuhrmeister, P. (2023). The neurolinguistics of second language phonology: A view of phonemic contrast learning. In K. Morgan-Short & J.G. Van Hell, (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Neurolinguistics (pp 87-100). Taylor & Francis.
Mechtenberg, H., Heffner, C. C., Myers, E. B., & Guediche, S. (2023). The cerebellum is sensitive to the lexical properties of words during spoken language comprehension. Neurobiology of Language. https://doi.org/10.1162/nol_a_00126
Mechtenberg, H., Giorio, C., & Myers, E. B. (2023). Pupil dilation reflects perceptual priorities during a receptive speech task. Ear and hearing, 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001438. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000001438
Luthra, S., Mechtenberg, H., Giorio, C., Theodore, R. M., Magnuson, J. S., & Myers, E. B. (2023). Using TMS to evaluate a causal role for right posterior temporal cortex in talker-specific phonetic processing. Brain and Language, 240, 105264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105264
Luthra, S., Magnuson, J. S., & Myers, E. B. (2023). Right posterior temporal cortex supports integration of phonetic and talker information. Neurobiology of Language, 4(1), 145–177. https://doi.org/10.1162/nol_a_00091
Drouin, J. R., Zysk, V. A., Myers, E. B., & Theodore, R. M. (2023). Sleep-based memory consolidation stabilizes perceptual learning of noise-vocoded speech. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00139
Fuhrmeister, P., Phillips, M. C., McCoach, D. B., & Myers, E. B. (2023). Relationships between native and non-native speech perception. Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition, 10.1037/xlm0001213. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001213.

2022

Heffner, C. C., Myers, E. B., & Gracco, V. L. (2022). Impaired perceptual phonetic plasticity in Parkinson's disease. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 152(1), 511. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0012884
Heffner, C. C., Fuhrmeister, P., Luthra, S., Mechtenberg, H., Saltzman, D., & Myers, E. B. (2022). Reliability and validity for perceptual flexibility in speech. Brain and Language, 226, 105070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2021.105070

2021

Heffner, C. C., & Myers, E. B. (2021). Individual differences in phonetic plasticity across native and nonnative contexts. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 64(10), 3720–3733. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00004
Fuhrmeister, P., & Myers, E. B. (2021). Structural variation in the temporal lobe predicts learning and retention of non-native speech sounds. Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, 37(1), 63–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2021.1944658
Mechtenberg, H., Xie, X., & Myers, E. B. (2021). Sentence predictability modulates cortical response to phonetic ambiguity. Brain and Language, 218, 104959. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2021.104959
Luthra, S., Saltzman, D., Myers, E. B., & Magnuson, J. S. (2021). Listener expectations and the perceptual accommodation of talker variability: A pre-registered replication. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 83(6), 2367–2376. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-021-02317-x
Myers, E. B. (2021). Speech perception following focal brain injury. In Nygaard, Pardo, Pisoni & Remez, Eds. The Handbook of Speech Perception, 570-601.
Luthra, S., Mechtenberg, H., & Myers, E. B. (2021). Perceptual learning of multiple talkers requires additional exposure. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 83(5), 2217–2228. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-021-02261-w
Luthra, S. (2021). The role of the right hemisphere in processing phonetic variability between talkers. Neurobiology of Language, 2(1), 138-151. https://doi.org/10.1162/nol_a_00028
Fuhrmeister, P., & Myers, E. B. (2021). Structural neural correlates of individual differences in categorical perception. Brain and Language, 215, 104919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2021.104919
Saltzman, D., & Myers, E. (2021). Listeners are initially flexible in updating phonetic beliefs over time. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 28(4), 1354–1364. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-021-01885-1

2020

Saltzman, D. I., & Myers, E. B. (2020). Neural representation of articulable and inarticulable novel sound contrasts: The role of the dorsal stream. Neurobiology of Language, 1(3), 339-364. https://doi.org/10.1162/nol_a_00016
Luthra, S., Magnuson, J. S., & Myers, E. B. (2020). Boosting lexical support does not enhance lexically guided perceptual learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 47(4), 685–704. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000945
Luthra, S., Correia, J. M., Kleinschmidt, D. F., Mesite, L. & Myers, E. B. Lexical information guides retuning of neural patterns in perceptual learning of speech. (2020). Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 32(10), 2001-2012. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_01612
Fuhrmeister, P., Schlemmer, B., & Myers, E. B. (2020). Adults show initial advantages over children in learning difficult nonnative speech sounds. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63(8), 2667–2679. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-19-00358
Fuhrmeister, P., Smith, G., & Myers, E. B. (2020). Overlearning of non-native speech sounds does not result in superior consolidation after a period of sleep. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 143(3). EL289-EL294. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0000943
Fuhrmeister, P., & Myers, E. B. (2020). Desirable and undesirable difficulties: Influences of variability, training schedule, and aptitude on nonnative phonetic learning. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 82(4), 2049–2065. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-019-01925-y

2019

Fuhrmeister, P. (2019). Interference in memory consolidation of non-native speech sounds. In S. Fuchs, J. Cleland, & A. Rochet-Capellan (Eds.), Speech Production and Perception: Learning and Memory (pp. 207-243). Berlin: Peter Lang.
Luthra, S., Guediche, S., Blumstein, S. E., & Myers, E. B. (2019) Neural substrates of subphonemic variation and lexical competition in spoken word recognition. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 34(2), 151-169.
Luthra, S., Fuhrmeister, P., Molfese, P.J., Guediche, S., Blumstein, S. E., & Myers, E.B. (2019). Brain-behavior relationships in incidental learning of non-native phonetic categories. Brain and Language.

2018

Johns, A. J., Skoe, E., & Myers, E.B. (2018). Sensory and cognitive contributions to age-related changes in spoken word recognition. Language and Linguistics Compass 12(2), 1-25.
Xie, X., & Myers, E.B. (2018). Left inferior frontal gyrus sensitivity to phonetic competition in receptive language processing: A comparison of clear and conversational speech. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 30(3), 267-280.
Xie, X., *Earle, F. S., & Myers, E. B. (2018). Sleep facilitates generalisation of accent adaptation to a new talker. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 33(2), 196-210.

2017

Earle, F. S., Landi, N., & Myers, E. B. (2017). Adults with specific language impairment fail to consolidate speech sounds during sleep. Neuroscience Letters.
Fuhrmeister, P., & Myers, E.B. (2017). Non-native phonetic learning is destabilized by exposure to phonological variability before and after training. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 142, EL448.
Saltzman, D. & Myers, E. (2017). Listeners are maximally flexible in updating phonetic beliefs over time. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 1-7.
Xie, X., Earle, F. S., & Myers, E. B. (2017). Sleep facilitates generalisation of accent adaptation to a new talker. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 1-15.
Xie, X., & Myers, E. B. (2017). Learning a talker or learning an accent: Acoustic similarity constrains generalization of foreign accent adaptation to new talkers. Journal of Memory and Language, 97, 30–46.
Myers, E.B. (2017). From sound to meaning. Physics Today, 70(4), 34-39.
Myers, E.B., Johns, A.R., Earle, F.S., and Xie, X. (2017). The invariance problem in the acquisition of non-native phonetic contrasts: From instances to categories. In Lahiri, A. (Ed.) Lexical processing of speech (52-84). Berlin: De Gruyter/Mouton.
Myers, E. B., & Theodore, R. M. (2017). Voice-sensitive brain networks encode talker-specific phonetic detail. Brain and Language, 165, 33-44.
Xie, X., Theodore, R., and Myers, E.B. (2017). More than a boundary shift: perceptual adaptation to foreign-accented speech reshapes the internal structure of phonetic categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 43: 206-217.
Earle, F. S., Landi, N., & Myers, E. B. (2017). Sleep duration predicts behavioral and neural differences in adult speech sound learning. Neuroscience Letters.

2016

Drouin, J. R., Theodore, R. M., & Myers, E. B. (2016). Lexically guided perceptual tuning of internal phonetic category structure. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 140, EL307-EL313.

2015

Castelluccio, B. C., Myers, E. B., Schuh, J. M., & Eigsti, I.-M. (2015). Neural substrates of processing anger in language: Contributions of prosody and semantics. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research.
Mozeiko, J., Coelho, C. A., & Myers, E. B. (2015). The role of intensity in constraint-induced language therapy for people with chronic aphasia. Aphasiology, 30, 339-363.
Theodore, R. M., Myers, E. B., & Lomibao, J. A. (2015). Talker-specific influences on phonetic category structure. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 138, 1068–1078.
Earle, F. S., & Myers, E. B. (2015). Sleep and native language interference affect non-native speech sound learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance, 41, 1680–1695.
Xie, X., & Myers, E. (2015). The impact of musical training and tone language experience on talker identification. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 137, 419.
Xie, X., & Myers, E.B. (2015). General language ability predicts talker identification. In Noelle, D. C., Dale, R., Warlaumont, A. S., Yoshimi, J., Matlock, T., Jennings, C. D., & Maglio, P. P. (Eds.) (2015). Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.
Earle, F.S., & Myers, E.B. (2015). Overnight consolidation promotes generalization across talkers in the identification of nonnative speech sounds. JASA-EL (Vol.137, No.1).

2014

Earle FS and Myers EB (2014). Building phonetic categories: an argument for the role of sleep. Front. Psychol. 5:1192.
Myers EB (2014) Emergence of category-level sensitivities in non-native speech sound learning. Front. Neurosci. 8:238.
Myers, E. B., & Mesite, L. M. (2014). Neural systems underlying perceptual adjustment to non-standard speech tokens. Journal of Memory and Language, 76, 80–93.
Del Tufo SN and Myers EB (2014). Phonemic restoration in developmental dyslexia. Front. Neurosci. 8:134.

2013

Blumstein, S. E., and Myers, E.B. (2013). Neural Systems Underlying Speech Perception. Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Neuroscience.
Swan, K.S., Myers E.B. (2013). Category labels induce boundary-dependent perceptual warping in learned speech categories. Second Language Research, 29(4), 391-411.
Feldman, Naomi, Myers, E.B., White, K.S., Griffiths, T.L., and Morgan, J.L. (2013). Word-level information influences phonetic learning in adults and infants. Cognition, 127(3), 427-38.
Magnuson, J.S., Mirman, D. and Myers, E. (2013). Spoken word recognition. In D. Reisberg (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Psychology (pp 412-441). New York, USA: Oxford University Press

2012

Myers, E.B., and Swan, K.S. (2012). Effects of category learning on neural sensitivity to non-native phonetic categories. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 24(8), 1695-708.
Salvata, C, Blumstein, S.E., Myers, E. B. (2012). Speaker invariance for phonetic information: an fMRI investigation. Language and Cognitive Processes, 27(2), 210-230.

2011

Peramunage, D., Blumstein, S. E., Myers, E. B., Goldrick, M., & Baese-Berk, M. (2011). Phonological neighborhood effects in spoken word production: an fMRI study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23(3), 593-603.

2009

Myers, E. B., Blumstein, S.E. Walsh, E, and Eliassen, J. (2009). Inferior frontal regions underlie the perception of phonetic category invariance. Psychological Science, 20(7), 895-903.
Britton, B., Blumstein, S.E., Myers, E.B., and Grindrod, C. (2009). The role of spectral and durational properties on hemispheric asymmetries in vowel perception. Neuropsychologia, 47(4), 1096-106.
Bielenko, N., Grindrod, C. Myers, E., and Blumstein, S. (2009). Neural correlates of semantic competition during processing of ambiguous words. Journal of Cognitive Neurosceience, 21(5), 960-75.

2008

Myers, E.B and Blumstein, S.E (2008). The neural bases of the lexical effect: An fMRI investigation. Cerebral Cortex 18(2): 278-88.
Grindrod, C., Bilenko, N., Myers, E., and Blumstein, S. (2008). The role of the left inferior frontal gyrus in implicit semantic competition and selection: an event-related fMRI study. Brain Research, Sep 10; 1229, 167—78.
Ruff, I., Blumstein, S.E., Myers, E.B., and Hutchison, E. (2008). Recruitment of anterior and posterior structures in lexical-semantic processing: An fMRI study comparing implicit and explicit tasks. Brain and Language 105(1), 41-9.
Hutchison, E., Blumstein, S.E., and Myers, E.B. (2008). An event-related fMRI investigation of voice-onset time discrimination. NeuroImage 40(1): 342-52.

2007

Myers, E.B. (2007). Dissociable effects of phonetic competition and category typicality in a phonetic categorization task: An fMRI investigation. Neuropsychologia 45:1463-1473.

2006

Prabhakaran, R., Blumstein, S.E., Myers, E.B., Hutchison, E., and Britton, B. (2006). An event-related fMRI investigation of phonological-lexical competition. Neuropsychologia 44(12), 2209-21.

2005

Blumstein, S.E., Myers, E.B, and Rissman, J. (2005). The perception of voice-onset time: An fMRI investigation of phonetic category structure. Journal of Cognitive Neurosicence 17(9), 1353-66.
Myers, E.B. and Blumstein, S.E. (2005). Selectional restriction and semantic priming effects in normals and Broca's aphasics. Journal of Neurolinguistics 18(3), 277-296.

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