During her PhD studies, Heidi Bliddal Borges explored the feasibility of estimating speech intelligibility using electrodes placed in the ear and on the scalp. When listening to speech, the brain synchronizes its activity to the speech signal, a tendency that diminishes with increased noise level. Heidi Bliddal Borges investigated how this synchronization trend can be used to estimate speech intelligibility in both younger and older normal-hearing individuals. Her research findings contribute significantly to our understanding of measuring speech intelligibility with electrodes in and around the ear, and the impact of age on these estimations.

The PhD study was completed at Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student.

Time: Monday, 26 May 2025 at 14.00
Place: Building 5123, room 313, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University, Helsingforsgade 10, 8200 Aarhus N.
Title of PhD thesis: Neural Correlates of Speech Intelligibility
Contact information: Heidi Bliddal Borges, e-mail: hebl@ece.au.dk
Members of the assessment committee:
Professor Edmund C. Lalor, University of Rochester, Rochester, USA.
Associate Professor Jens Hjortkjær, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark.
Associate Professor Peter Johansen (chair), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Main supervisor: Professor Preben Kidmose, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Co-supervisor: 
PhD. Christian Bech Christensen, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Dr. Johannes Zaar, Eriksholm Research Centre and Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark.
Adjunct Associate Professor Emina Alickovic, Eriksholm Research Centre, Denmark and Department of Electrical Engineering, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden.
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English
 

The defence is public.
The PhD thesis is available for reading at the Graduate School of Technical Sciences/GSTS, Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, 8000 Aarhus C.