EEG Neurofeedback Lab
Andrew Bowers, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
albowers@uark.edu
479-575-3486
Biography
Andrew Bowers, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is an associate professor at the University of Arkansas where he directs the EEG Neurofeedback Laboratory. He conducts research focusing on sensorimotor integration in speech perception and production using electroencephalography (EEG), autonomic measures, and surface electromyography (EMG). His research examines relationships between sensorimotor integration, cognition, and measures of task-performance toward non-invasive brain-computer interface methods designed to augment treatment approaches in fluency disorders.
Lab Research Summary — The long-term goal of my laboratory is to develop the knowledge, understanding, and practical procedures needed to use brain-based signals to enhance assessment and treatment in developmental stuttering. Toward that goal, we are currently conducting experiments designed to identify differences in brain-electrical signals in adults who stutter when compared to matched typically fluent speakers during speech production, speech processing, and at rest.
Research Implications — We expect work in the EEG Neurofeedback Laboratory to provide the knowledge needed to support new brain-based approaches to treatment in adults and children who stutter using a relatively inexpensive and completely noninvasive technology poised to become common place through both private and public investment in what are known as brain computer interfaces (BCI). In addition, we intend to contribute to public databases currently under development that will allow other researchers working on similar projects to have access to data that would otherwise be difficult to obtain.
Student Impact — Students working in the laboratory can learn how to operate physiological recording equipment, write custom scripts in Matlab, perform signal analysis, and to relate those measures to communication attitudes, task performance, and perceptual measures of stuttering. Students may also learn to assess and quantify stutter-typical behaviors, to administer stuttering assessment protocols, and to discuss those via telecommunication with students through our laboratory partners. More broadly, students have the opportunity to learn about and reinforce classroom knowledge of neurophysiological processes in communication disorders.
Selected Publications
Bowers, A., Bowers, L., Hudock, D., & Ramsdell-Hudock, H., (2018). Phonological working memory in developmental stuttering: Potential insights from the neurobiology of language and cognition. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 58, 94-117.
Jenson D., Bowers A., Hudock, D., & Saltuklaroglu, T., (2020) The application of EEG mu rhythm measures to neurophysiological research in stuttering. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience,13, 458.
Selected Presentations
Bowers A., & Hudock D, (2022) Lower resting-state periodic beta power in adults who stutter. Joint World Congress on Stuttering and Cluttering, Montreal, Canada.
Bowers A., & Hudock D. (2020). Resting-state and task-related neural oscillations in adults who stutter and typically fluent speakers. 12th Oxford Dysfluency Conference (Online).