Stefan Elmer

Stefan Elmer is a Senior Researcher at ETH Zurich specializing in computational neuroscience of speech and hearing. His work investigates neural mechanisms of language processing, bilingualism, and music cognition, with emphasis on how musical expertise influences speech perception and word learning across the lifespan using EEG and neuroimaging techniques.

Dr. Elmer's research spans speech neuroscience, hearing neuroscience, and bilingualism, focusing on neural plasticity in interpreters and musicians. Key studies examine cognitive load during simultaneous interpretation, neural correlates of absolute pitch, and age-related changes in temporal speech processing. His work demonstrates how experience in music or language reshapes brain connectivity in dorsal/ventral streams.

Analysis of his 2019-2023 publications reveals consistent themes: neural adaptations in simultaneous interpreters, music-language interactions in word learning, and clinical applications for tinnitus/hearing loss. His research highlights EEG-based biomarkers for individual cognitive profiles and lifespan effects of expertise on auditory processing.

Dr. Elmer contributes to ETH Zurich's Computational Neuroscience of Speech & Hearing group, which employs interdisciplinary approaches to unravel auditory processing mechanisms through collaborative projects bridging neuroscience, linguistics, and clinical audiology.