Biography
Birtan is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Bioelectronic Circuits & Systems Laboratory within the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit at the University of Oxford.
Birtan earned an MSc in Psychology, Neuroscience and Human Sciences from the University of Pavia, Italy, completing his master’s research at the University Medical Center Goettingen, Germany, where he used real-time MRI to investigate the articulatory movements of people who stutter. He then received a DPhil in Experimental Psychology from Oxford for his thesis Neural and Psychological Correlates of Stuttering. Both his doctoral work and his current postdoctoral position are funded by the Dominic Barker Trust.
Birtan develops and tests pioneering technologies that involve non-invasive brain stimulation with artificial intelligence, augmented reality glasses and immersive virtual reality. His aim is to make these interventions accessible through clinical services, including the UK National Health Service.
Research Interests
His research examines stuttering in two main stages:
Stage 1: Investigating the biomarkers of stuttering.
- Uses fMRI, magnetoencephalography (MEG), and computational modelling.
- Pinpoints where and how disruptions occur in the brain.
- Investigates what distinguishes stuttered utterances from fluent ones.
Stage 2: Developing therapeutic tools for people who want to work on speech fluency and reduce social anxiety.
- Non-invasive brain stimulation,
- Artificial intelligence (AI),
- Augmented reality (AR) glasses,
- Immersive virtual reality (VR)
Research Group
Affiliated Academic
Publications
No evidence of altered language laterality in people who stutter across different brain imaging studies of speech and language
Demirel B, Chesters J, Connally EL, Gough PM, Ward D et al. (2024), Brain Communications, 6(5)
BibTeX
@article{noevidenceofalt-2024/9,
title={No evidence of altered language laterality in people who stutter across different brain imaging studies of speech and language},
author={Demirel B, Chesters J, Connally EL, Gough PM, Ward D et al.},
journal={Brain Communications},
volume={6},
number={fcae305},
publisher={Oxford University Press},
year = "2024"
}
No Evidence of Altered Language Laterality in People Who Stutter across Different Brain Imaging Studies of Speech and Language
Demirel B, Chesters J, Connally E, Gough P, Ward D et al. (2024)
BibTeX
@misc{noevidenceofalt-2024/,
title={No Evidence of Altered Language Laterality in People Who Stutter across Different Brain Imaging Studies of Speech and Language},
author={Demirel B, Chesters J, Connally E, Gough P, Ward D et al.},
year = "2024"
}
Birtan Demirel, Jennifer Chesters, Emily L Connally, Patricia M Gough, David Ward, Peter Howell, Kate E Watkins, No evidence of altered language laterality in people who stutter across different brain imaging studies of speech and language, Brain Communications, Volume 6, Issue 5, 2024, fcae305, https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcae305
