Stefan Elmer

Stefan Elmer (www.neuroscienze.ch) is a senior researcher at the Department of Neuropsychology at the University of Zurich, where he is currently responsible for an SNSF-Sinergia project which aims to evaluate the cognitive load in interpreting and translation. He has extensive experience in using modern brain imaging (sMRI, fMRI, and DTI) and neurophysiology (EEG) techniques. In recent years, he has contributed to a better understanding of the neural underpinnings of speech and music processing, language learning, expertise and plasticity in the auditory system in general. Moreover, Stefan Elmer is a section editor of Cogent Psychology and on the editorial board of Plos One and Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

 

Relevant publications:

  • Elmer, Stefan, Valizadeh, Seyed Abolfazl, Cunillera, Toni & Rodriguez-Fornells, Anton (2020). Selective neural entrainment to speech units while learning new words based on statistical regularities and prosodic cues. (under review)
  • Dittinger, Eva, Jäncke, Lutz, Besson, Mireille & Elmer, Stefan (2019a). Testing relationships between music training and word learning across the lifespan using a cross-sectional approach in children, young adults and older adults. Brain and Language 198. DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104678.
  • Valizadeh, Seyed Abolfazl, Riener, Robert, Jäncke, Lutz & Elmer, Stefan (2019b). Decrypting the electrophysiological individuality of the human brain: identification of individuals based on resting-state EEG activity. NeuroImage 197: 470-481. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.04.005.
  • Elmer, Stefan, Hänggi, Jürgen, Vaquero, Lucia, Cadena, Guillem Olivé, François, Clément & Rodriguez-Fornells, Antoni (2019c). Tracking the microstructural properties of the main white matter pathways underlying speech processing in simultaneous interpreters. NeuroImage 191: 518-528. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.02.056.
  • Elmer, Stefan, Albrecht, Joëlle, Valizadeh, Seyed Abolfazl, François, Clément & Rodriguez-Fornells, Antoni (2018). Theta coherence asymmetry in the dorsal stream of musicians facilitates word learning. Scientific Reports 8(4565). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-22942-1.
  • Elmer, Stefan & Kühnis, Jürg (2016). Functional connectivity in the left dorsal stream facilitates simultaneous language translation: an EEG study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 10: 60. DOI:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00060.
  • Elmer, Stefan, Hänggi, Jürgen & Jäncke, Lutz (2014). Processing demands upon cognitive, linguistic, and articulatory functions promote grey matter plasticity in the adult multilingual brain: insights from simultaneous interpreters. Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior 54: 179-789. DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2014.02.014.
  • Elmer, Stefan, Hänggi, Jürgen, Meyer, Martin & Jäncke, Lutz (2011). Differential language expertise related to white matter architecture in regions subserving sensory-motor coupling, articulation, and interhemispheric transfer. Human Brain Mapping 32(12): 2064-2074. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.21169.
  • Elmer, Stefan, Meyer, Martin & Jäncke, Lutz (2010). Simultaneous interpreters as a model for neuronal adaptation in the domain of language processing. Brain research 1317: 147-156. DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.12.052.