Education
PhD in Developmental Speech Neuroscience 2021 – 2025
University College London, United Kingdom
Thesis: Tracking Phonetic-Learning Abilities Across the Lifespan: Electrophysiological and Behavioral Perspectives.
MRes Speech, Language and Cognition 2020 – 2021
University College London, United Kingdom
Dissertation: Exploring the effects of gamification of phonetic training in bilingual children.
BSc Psychology and Language Sciences 2017 – July 2020
University College London, United Kingdom
Dissertation: Neural Entrainment to the Amplitude Envelope of Infant-Directed Speech in Preverbal Infants: Effects of Listening Condition and Language Experience.
Academic Positions
Research Fellow, Apr 2026 – present
University College London, United Kingdom
Applying EEG and day-long recording methodologies to study speech and language processing in the brain across childhood and adulthood. PI: Prof. Paul Iverson.
Postdoctoral Researcher, Oct 2025 – Apr 2026
University of Lisbon, Portugal
Designed and conducted an EEG experiment to test vowel perception at pre- and post-training in a Gamified Phonetic Training project. PI: Dr. Vita Kogan.
Publications
Pericas Herrero, B., and Iverson, P. (2025). Memory-card English vowel training for second-language learners: Effects of age and bilingualism for Spanish-Catalan-speaking children. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 157(6), 4640–4648. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0036885.
Iverson, P., Pericas Herrero, B., and Katashima, A. (2023). Memory-card vowel training for child and adult second-language learners: A first report. JASA Express Letters, 3(1), 015202–015202. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0016836.
Awards and Studentships
UBEL Doctoral Training Studentship 2020-2025
Economic and Social Research Council, United Kingdom Research Innovation
Tuition Fees + 20.000GBP/year
International Research Visit 2023
Economic and Social Research Council, United Kingdom Research Innovation
2000GBP
Master’s Student Achievement Prize 2021
University College London
Undergraduate Student Achievement Prize 2020
University College London
Conference Talks
April 2025. Incorporating more phonetic contrasts in bilingualism and language learning research: Can MMN be made more efficient? Presented at the New Sounds 2025 Conference, Toronto, Canada.
September 2024. Incorporating more phonetic contrasts in bilingualism and language learning research: Can MMN be made more efficient? Presented at the 10th Mismatch Negativity Conference, Salamanca, Spain.
April 2022. Memory-card phonetic training of English vowels for bilingual children. Presented at the New Sounds 2022 Conference, Barcelona, Spain.
Research Visits
International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN) Sep – Dec 2023
The University of Tokyo, Japan
Supported the introduction of infant EEG testing in the baby laboratory: helped set up the experimental protocol and conducted piloting sessions using EEG.
Teaching Experience
Using EEG to Study Early Phonetic and Phonological Development 2023, 2024, 2025
Guest Lecturer, University College London
Module: Development of Communication and Cognition
EEG for Speech and Language Research 2024
Teaching Assistant, University College London
Interaction Design 2023
Teaching Assistant, University College London