Articles tagged with Speech Development
A team of UCLA engineers has developed a soft, thin, stretchy device that can detect movement in larynx muscles and translate signals into audible speech with nearly 95% accuracy. The device is made up of two components and uses machine-learning technology to assist patients with voice disorders.
A new study published in eClinicalMedicine found that the iTalkBetter app significantly improved patients' ability to talk after six weeks of use. The app provided digital speech therapy for over 200 commonly used words, with a 13% increase in naming items and improvements in spontaneous speech.
A new study from Southern Methodist University reveals that passive video use among toddlers can hinder language development, but caregivers' reasons for exposing them to digital media can lessen the negative impact. When videos are used for educational or social purposes, such as video chats with family members, the risk of stunted la...
A study by Florida Atlantic University finds that reminiscing with children elicits high-quality speech from parents, similar to book sharing. The activity was found to increase lexical richness and grammatical complexity in parent speech, benefiting children's language growth.
Researchers at University of California - San Francisco have developed a precise map of what is happening in the brain’s auditory cortex when someone hears a melody. The study found that some aspects of music are entwined with how we understand speech, while other important aspects stand alone. The brain uses two sets of neurons to ass...
A new study from University of Florida scientists reveals that chronic ear infections can lead to deficits in auditory processing and language development in children years later. Children with multiple ear infections before three years old had smaller vocabularies and difficulty matching similar sounding words.
A global study of 1,001 children across 12 countries found that adult talk is the key predictor of language development in infants and toddlers. No effects were found related to socioeconomics or multilingualism.
Researchers found that phonetic encoding in babies emerged gradually over the first year of life, beginning with labial sounds and nasal sounds. Parents should speak to their babies using sing-song speech as soon as possible to help them learn language.
A new study found that attending early childhood education and care during the pandemic had sustained benefits for youngsters' development, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The study discovered that toddlers who spent more time in childcare produced more new words and understood more new words than their peers.
Researchers developed DIRFA, an AI-based program that generates realistic videos with facial animations synchronized to spoken audio, showcasing improvements over existing approaches. The tool has potential applications in healthcare, education, and entertainment, enhancing user experiences.
A new speech prosthetic developed by Duke neuroscientists and engineers can translate brain signals into spoken words, improving communication for people with neurological disorders. The device achieved an accuracy rate of 40% in predicting intended speech from 90 seconds of brain activity.
A new study found that high-peace countries are characterized by an increased prevalence of words related to optimism for the future and fun, while low-peace countries feature more references to control and fear. The research used a machine learning model to identify these linguistic patterns in media articles from 18 countries.
Researchers found young chimps produce sounds with varying functions similar to human infants, indicating a shared evolutionary foundation for language. This discovery challenges conventional beliefs about primate vocal production and highlights the need for further comparative studies.
A new technique for mapping the human auditory pathway has been developed, providing valuable insights into treating profound hearing loss. The study found lower nerve fibre density in children with profound SNHL, and highlighted the importance of early interventions to improve long-term outcomes.
A new report argues that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities should be given equal opportunities to learn languages. Learning a second language can provide numerous benefits, including linguistic awareness, speech skills, and social interaction.
Researchers at UCSF and UC Berkeley have developed a brain-computer interface (BCI) that allows a woman with severe paralysis from a brainstem stroke to speak through a digital avatar. The system can decode brain signals into text at nearly 80 words per minute, making it a vast improvement over commercially available technology.
A study found that dogs are more sensitive to speech directed at them than adult-directed speech, with a greater response to female voices. The researchers measured dog brain activity via fMRI and found that the sensitivity was affected by voice pitch and variation.
Researchers developed a new method to estimate vocal cord vibrations pitch from call audio, leading to more accurate dysarthria diagnoses in telemedicine. The method integrates feature quantities extracted from amplitude and phase spectra, demonstrating robustness against background noise.
A recent study at the University of Helsinki found that speech production and singing are supported by the same neural network in the brain, challenging previous notions about their separate functions. The left hemisphere plays a crucial role in both abilities, particularly in terms of singing.
A new study reveals that infants aged 4 to 18 months produce more protophones, the foundation of speech, when using artificial objects compared to natural ones. This suggests that man-made objects play a crucial role in developing language skills by encouraging vocalization and interaction with parents.
Researchers at the University of Waterloo discovered a method to bypass voice authentication security systems with high accuracy. They found that malicious actors can generate convincing copies of a victim's voice using deepfake software, evading existing spoofing countermeasures.
A new study at Tel Aviv University found that older bats do indeed suffer from age-related hearing loss, but at a relatively slow rate compared to humans. The researchers believe that bats have developed special adaptations to cope with their noisy environment, which could provide insights into human hearing loss.
A team of researchers used MRI and audio recordings to demonstrate the association between caregiver speech and infant brain development. Infants who heard more words had slower-developing white matter, but eventually showed better linguistic performance when they began to talk.
A study by the University of Zurich found that chimpanzees understand and respond strongly to combined calls, which they use to recruit group members in threatening situations. This discovery sheds light on the potential evolutionary origins of language's compositional structure, suggesting it may be at least 6 million years old.
Researchers at Texas A&M University have developed the first molecular therapeutic for Angelman syndrome, a devastating neurogenetic disorder. The therapy targets an evolutionarily conserved region in the UBE3A-AS transcript and has shown promising results in clinical trials.
Researchers at UTHealth Houston received $15 million in NIH BRAIN grants to study brain processes related to speech, epilepsy, and reading. A new minimally invasive device will be developed to record brain activity during speech, while another project aims to disrupt seizures using neuromodulation.
A study by Princeton University researchers found that children are more likely to know an emotion label when they also know many related valenced words. Parents can support young children's learning of emotion labels by surrounding them with related words, such as
A new smartphone application called FAST.AI uses machine learning algorithms to recognize facial asymmetry, arm weakness, and speech changes in people experiencing a stroke. The app's accuracy was validated through a study involving nearly 270 patients with acute stroke, showing promise as a tool for prompt individuals to seek care.
A new research project aims to promote dual-language development for children with autism in bilingual families. The study will examine the type of bilingual environment and factors related to their ability to speak or understand both languages.
Researchers aim to provide the highest quality of care possible by understanding the sound environment of child care centers. A 48-hour monitoring period and staff evaluations helped identify factors influencing child and provider experiences.
Researchers from McGill University and MIT developed an AI system that can learn the rules and patterns of human languages on its own. The model automatically generates higher-level language patterns that can be applied to different languages, achieving better results.
Research finds that certain features of 'baby talk' such as pitch, melody, and articulation rates have consistent properties across most world languages. However, the exaggeration of vowel sound differences varies significantly between languages. As infants develop language skills, IDS gradually becomes more similar to adult speech style.
A recent study at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences found that mothers' postnatal depressive moods can impact their babies' ability to distinguish speech sounds. Mothers in a negative mood tend to use less infant-directed speech, leading to delayed language development in infants.
Researchers are recruiting over 1500 UK participants to study the genetic basis of stammering. The largest study of its kind hopes to identify genes linked to the condition and develop new therapies targeting the underlying causes.
Researchers found that infants differentiate sounds based on neighboring sounds and vowel durations. Their study suggests that babies can learn the speech contrasts of their language through naturalistic speech data.
A study published in Early Education and Development journal found that preschoolers with stronger vocabulary skills at the start of the year display more positive engagement with teachers and peers. The researchers also discovered that inhibitory control is crucial for classroom engagement and learning.
A new study suggests that voluntary imagination, rather than speech, is crucial for combinatorial language acquisition in children with language deficiencies. The research found that children who engaged in a voluntary imagination intervention showed significant improvement in language comprehension.
Research by University of Cambridge academics found that children as old as five or six struggle to reconcile inference and perspective, leading to difficulties in conversations. Combining these skills is crucial for understanding 'implicatures' - inferences made in conversation when people mean more than they say.
New research reveals that infants as young as 4 months can differentiate between speech and song based on acoustic features such as pitch and rhythm. The study also found that exaggerated pitch is related to better neural tracking of infant-directed speech.
A new study reveals that greater left-brain asymmetry is related to both better and average performance on reading ability tests, depending on the analysis method used. The findings support two opposing theories of language processing, suggesting a complex relationship between brain structure and speech sound processing.
Neural speech processing matures significantly in infancy, but certain abilities like sound discrimination still develop. A study found that children from birth to 2.5 years show varying levels of maturation in auditory skills essential for language learning.
Research at University of California - San Diego found that infants with ASD have impaired neural responses to motherese speech, which is crucial for emotional bonding and learning. Typically developing children show stronger brain activation and interest in motherese.
Research from the University of Florida found that baby talk can stimulate motor production of speech in infants. By mimicking infant vocal tracts, babies learn how words should sound coming out of their mouths. This discovery challenges previous assumptions about the role of baby talk in language development.
Researchers at the University of California, Davis and the University of Texas at Dallas found that listeners can reliably identify the gender of individual children as young as 5. They also discovered that identification of gender must take place jointly with the identification of age and likely physical size.
A new study documents that observable social-communication differences for infants with ASD unfold by 9 months, pointing to a critical window for targeted intervention. Infants with ASD exhibit significantly fewer social and early speech skills than their typically-developing peers at 9 months of age.
A study by NYU Steinhardt Professor Eric S. Jackson found that adults who stutter do not stutter during private speech, suggesting a strong social component in stuttering. The 'talk-alone-effect' is real and is influenced by the perception of being heard by a listener.
A study found that beat gestures produced by infants between 14 and 58 months predict improvements in their oral narrative skills at later ages. The researchers analyzed speech and gesture production in 45 children, comparing the predictive value of beat gestures to other types of gestures.
Professor Sojung Kim at George Mason University has received funding for a PR campaigns course. Students will form public relations agencies and create campaigns to promote First Amendment freedom of speech.
Researchers developed a system that automatically separates audio from different speakers in a crowded environment and compares these voices to the listener's brainwaves. This allows the voice of the speaker who is the center of the listener's attention to sound louder.
The study found that people's brains adapt to align with the rhythm of voices they hear, leading to differences in functional and structural aspects of the speech network. Good synchronizers showed more white matter in pathways connecting speech-perception areas and performed better in learning new words compared to bad synchronizers.
Researchers at TU Dresden are developing a technical assistance system that allows users to control devices using only tongue movements. The system, called Zungenmaus, aims to maintain everyday skills in patients with sensory and motor function impairments.
Researchers developed custom software to automatically detect and categorize speech patterns in forensic interviews, which are crucial for young victims of abuse. The study found that children's responses were highly correlated to their age, with emotional content influencing younger kids and vocalized words impacting older children.
New research reveals that infants have a strong preference for vocal sounds from their peers, even before they can babble. This discovery sheds light on how infants develop their understanding of spoken language, suggesting that access to infant speech plays a significant role in shaping their speech development.
Researchers developed a machine learning algorithm using MRI data to predict speech development in children with cochlear implants. The study found that neural preservation underlies improved speech in young CI recipients.
A new video inventory developed at McGill University may aid in diagnosing disorders that make it hard for individuals to recognize non-literal speech like sarcasm and teasing. This is particularly challenging for men and people with conditions like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or Autism spectrum disorders.
Researchers found that wild bonobos produce a call type called 'peep' across various emotional states and situations, showing contextual flexibility. This ability has evolutionary roots that predate the emergence of human language, suggesting an early transition from fixed vocal signalling towards functional flexibility.
Professors Tiago Falk and Douglas O'Shaughnessy from INRS Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre received Google research grants to improve automatic speech recognition (ASR) accuracy. Their projects focus on reducing background noise and developing new methods to analyze acoustic speech.
Babies start combining gestures with speech at 11 months, producing deictic gestures like pointing and reaching to inform, not command. This coordination is crucial for future linguistic abilities.
Researchers developed a mathematical program to analyze spoken words and enhance sounds that help listeners understand speech in loud situations. The manipulated speech was found to be easier to understand than natural speech, with improvements equivalent to lowering noise by five decibels.
Researchers found that primate lip smacking and human speech share similar frequency ranges, developmental trajectories, and neural controls. This study provides insight into the neural basis of human communication disorders by exploring the evolution of primate facial expressions and their potential link to speech.