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Björn Lyxell

Professor

My research is about cognition and communication in deaf and hearing impaired individuals.
I am interested in how cognitive skills are linked to communicative success, often with different
types of hearing devices, for example cochlear implants.

Cognitive hearing science

The new research field of cognitive hearing science is about the interaction between the individual's cognitive skills, type and degree of hearing loss and how this affects the individual's possibilities and limitations in different communicative situations. We study for example how different types of hearing devices and the auditory stimulation these provide may affect children's
cognitive and linguistic development.

Deaf and hearing-impaired children with cochlear implants and/or hearing-aids.

A cochlear implant (CI) is an electronic device that restores partial hearing to individuals with severe to profound hearing loss who do not benefit from a conventional hearing aid. In Sweden more than 95% of deaf children are implanted today. The research within this area takes place within an interdisciplinary Swedish network for research on children with CI. The network includes around 20 senior researchers and postdocs and 12 graduate students. The focus of research is how the auditory stimulation provided by the CI affects the cognitive, linguistic and communicative development. An additional line of research is on children and adolescents with deafblind syndromes (Usher´s and Alström syndrome).

Cochlear implants and cognition in adults

This line of research started 1994 and the goal is to identify pre-operative predictors of speech understanding in a long-term perspective. This is one of the few studies in the world where we have pre-operative cognitive data on all from 20 years back in time and audiological follow-up tests during that time. We have also gathered and reported data on the individuals as well as on their significant others subjective experience in change of quality of life following a CI.

Cognitive intervention

Cognitive intervention or cognitive training refers to training activities that improve specific cognitive abilities and where possible improvements as a function training is possible observe immediately after training as well some time (e.g., 4 – 6 months) after the training session is terminated. For children we have demonstrated that an internet-based cognitive training can improves deaf and hearing-impaired children phonological skills and that this in turn related to their reading development. Preliminary results for adults reveal that working memory training is effective and correlated with changes in brain activation pattern. Improvement in working memory performance is also correlated with speech understanding in noise.

Publications

2022

Victoria Stenbäck, Erik Marsja, Mathias Hällgren, Björn Lyxell, Birgitta Larsby (2022) Informational masking and listening effort in speech recognition innoise: the role of working memory capacity and inhibitory control in older adults with and without hearing impairmen Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, Vol. 65, p. 4417-4428 Continue to DOI
Michaela Socher, Elias Ingebrand, Malin Wass, Björn Lyxell (2022) The relationship between reasoning and language ability: comparing children with cochlear implants and children with typical hearing Logopedics, Phoniatrics, Vocology, Vol. 47, p. 73-83 Continue to DOI

2021

Björn Lyxell, Mary Rudner (2021) Arbetsminne Leva som andra: Ett biopsykosocialt perspektiv på funktionsnedsättning och funktionshinder, p. 257-274
Hanna Boenitz, Thomas Lunner, Mareike Finke, Lorenz Fiedler, Björn Lyxell, Soren Kamaric Riis, Elaine Ng, Alejandro Lopez Valdes, Andreas Buechner, Dorothea Wendt (2021) How Do We Allocate Our Resources When Listening and Memorizing Speech in Noise? A Pupillometry Study Ear and Hearing, Vol. 42, p. 846-859 Continue to DOI
Victoria Stenbäck, Erik Marsja, Mathias Hällgren, Björn Lyxell, Birgitta Larsby (2021) The contribution of age, working memory capacity and inhibitory control on speech-recognition-in-noise in young, and older adult listeners Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, Vol. 64, p. 4513-4523 Continue to DOI

Component Title

Research projects

  • Cognitive and linguistic development of deaf children with cochlear implants.
  • Longitudinal study of adults with Cochlear implant.
  • Switching noise-cognition in adults with hearing loss.
  • Cognitive and language development in individuals with Usher syndrome.

Assignments

• Head and co-supervisor of several graduate students.
• Member of priority committees at the Swedish Research Council, Forte and the Jerring Fund.
• Opponent and member of the examination board.

Teaching

• PhD studies in psychology and disability, Linköping University.
• Psychology and Speech Pathology program at Linköping University.
• Audiology, University of Gothenburg.

Publications

2022

Victoria Stenbäck, Erik Marsja, Mathias Hällgren, Björn Lyxell, Birgitta Larsby (2022) Informational masking and listening effort in speech recognition innoise: the role of working memory capacity and inhibitory control in older adults with and without hearing impairmen Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, Vol. 65, p. 4417-4428 Continue to DOI
Michaela Socher, Elias Ingebrand, Malin Wass, Björn Lyxell (2022) The relationship between reasoning and language ability: comparing children with cochlear implants and children with typical hearing Logopedics, Phoniatrics, Vocology, Vol. 47, p. 73-83 Continue to DOI

2021

Björn Lyxell, Mary Rudner (2021) Arbetsminne Leva som andra: Ett biopsykosocialt perspektiv på funktionsnedsättning och funktionshinder, p. 257-274
Hanna Boenitz, Thomas Lunner, Mareike Finke, Lorenz Fiedler, Björn Lyxell, Soren Kamaric Riis, Elaine Ng, Alejandro Lopez Valdes, Andreas Buechner, Dorothea Wendt (2021) How Do We Allocate Our Resources When Listening and Memorizing Speech in Noise? A Pupillometry Study Ear and Hearing, Vol. 42, p. 846-859 Continue to DOI
Victoria Stenbäck, Erik Marsja, Mathias Hällgren, Björn Lyxell, Birgitta Larsby (2021) The contribution of age, working memory capacity and inhibitory control on speech-recognition-in-noise in young, and older adult listeners Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, Vol. 64, p. 4513-4523 Continue to DOI

Research project

kognitiv hörselvetenskap demens

Ear, memory and dementia

Hearing loss may cause reduced speech comprehension, memory problems and possibly contribute to dementia. We study the relationship between hearing, cognition and communication over time and thus any connections to the development of dementia.

Research articles

Öra minne demens

Hearing-impaired most affected negatively by noise in working life

Persons with hearing impairments are affected more negatively by noise in working life than their colleagues with normal hearing are. They fare worse, mentally and physically, and they are also more tired during working hours and after work as well.

Thought-controlled hearing apparatus in the future

“We hear with our ears but listen with our brains”. That was the theme of this year’s Research Day, about current research in cognitive hearing sciences.

Impaired hearing can affect memory

Impaired hearing and impaired long-term memory go together. Hearing researchers at Linköping University have a theory on why a hearing impairment affects long-term memory.

Research centers

Hand holding hand.

Disability Research

Lots of people take for granted being active and able to participate in everyday life, but it is not obvious to everyone. Our focus is to increase the knowledge about disability and contribute to improve the situation of persons with disabilities.
Women listening trying to hear

Disability Research Division (FUSA)

We do research on various disabilities, where we measure and compare the impact and degree of disability. The focus is on cognition and communication.

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