Dr. Velu Prabhakar Kumaravel 

Understanding speech in noisy environments is a challenge for older adults due to changes in their hearing and mental abilities. Although training programs have shown promise, the benefits often do not transfer to real-life noisy situations. Recent studies have found that training with rewards and feedback can enhance learning outcomes. Personalized training that considers individual differences in hearing and cognition is also crucial. This project introduces a mobile brain training system that uses a special device that can be attached around the ear to measure brain activity (EEG) while participants are given training designed by expert audiologists and cognitive scientists. The goal of this project is to address technical challenges associated with developing such systems, from an engineering viewpoint. The developed system will provide real-time feedback through smart algorithms, helping older adults improve their speech-understanding abilities. By developing this system along with user-friendly software, I aim to enable future personalized training and long-term learning, leading to better speech perception in everyday situations for older adults. Additionally, this research will contribute to strengthening our understanding of how the brain learns and adapts to improve speech understanding.