Canada Research Chair in Oral Motor Function Across the Lifespan
Crossappointments to Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME), Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (TRI), & Department of Psychology,
UTM - Human Communication Lab (HCL)
University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Speech-Language Pathology
Picture taken by K. Gorra
Associate Professor
My area of expertise is oral motor control, in particular regarding the 'interface' between so-called higher-order processes (cognition, language) and motor control in speech and swallowing. My work at the University of Nijmegen in The Netherlands (until 1998) included experimental studies on normal adult speakers in various age groups, adult people who stutter and people with a cleft upper-lip history. My main interest is in dynamical systems theory (including CHAOS theory) and the way it can be applied to speech and swallowing. In my research I focus on multi-dimensional aspects of oral motor control, using simultaneous measurements on different subsystems (respiration, phonation, and articulation). I was among the first group of researchers using the German Electromagnetic Midsagittal Articulograph system (EMMA, AG100), a unique piece of equipment to monitor and record movements of lips, jaw, and tongue during the execution of speech and (most recently) swallowing tasks. In the Oral Dynamics Lab, I work with a 2-D version of the AG100 system with automated calibration and large helmet.
My key responsibilities include research in oral motor control in normal and disordered populations (as described above), teaching, and administrative duties. I teach courses in speech science for our students in the professional stream and individual courses on motor control for students in the M.Sc. and Ph.D. curriculum. For more information on current and past students, please go to ODL home page. If you are interested in a Ph.D. or M.Sc. position in my lab,please contact me by e-mail. Residents from Canada are especially encouraged to apply.
Back to top Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Oral Dynamics Lab
Faculty of Medicine, Rehabilitation Sciences Building
500 University Ave
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H2
Pascal van Lieshout
Phone: (416) 978-8334
Fax: (416) 978-1596
ODL phone: (416) 946-8552
My research at the University of Toronto focuses on normal speech and swallowing and their disorders as related to neurogenic, structural or functional abnormalities. I use concepts and tools of dynamical systems theory (DST) to study oral coordination and oral motor learning. In particular, I like to explore the influence of different types of constraints on the dynamics of the oral motor system (e.g., the effect of syllable structure on speech movements).
In 1987 I graduated with a Masters of Science in Speech-Language Pathology and a Master of Science in General Linguistics, at the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. In 1987 I started My Ph.D. research in speech motor control at the Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information (NICI) at the department of Experimental Psychology under the supervision of drs. Hulstijn and Peters. The thesis was published in 1995 (Motor Planning and Articulation in Fluent Speech of Stutterers and Nonstutterers, NICI Technical Report 95-07, ISBN 90-9008630-7). From 1992 till 1998 I held a position as a post-doc researcher at the NICI, focussing on speech motor control from a non-linear dynamical perspective. In 1995 I also became part-time research associate at the Department of Voice and Speech Pathology at the ENT clinic of the Academic Hospital Nijmegen. Since January 1998, I am affiliated with the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto.
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