Articles tagged with Speech
A new study analyzing 57 million Facebook posts found that the amount of controversy generated by a post is strongly linked to its speed of spread. The study suggests that posts reaching a wide audience quickly are more likely to be associated with negative or controversial reactions, regardless of topic.
Researchers argue that emoji-based language systems can improve communication between patients and physicians, particularly for vulnerable populations such as those with stroke or vocal impairments. The use of emoji can condense surveys and questionnaires, increasing response rates and appealing to patients.
Researchers have developed an effective treatment that accelerates recovery after stroke by modulating astrocyte reactivity and cortical connectivity. The treatment, which involves administering a molecule called C3a in nasal drops, has shown positive results in mice with stroke, offering new hope for faster and better recovery.
The study uses neural recordings and computer modeling to show that phonetic information is encoded differently when speech stands out versus being drowned out. This finding could help develop more accurate hearing aids.
A new study found that male infants make 10% more utterances in the first year compared to females, but this difference switches direction by the second year. The researchers suggest that male infants may have an evolutionary advantage due to their higher mortality rate in the first year.
A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that officers' first 45 words during a vehicle stop with a Black driver can indicate how the stop will end. The study discovered a unique 'linguistic signature' that characterizes escalated stops, where officers give an order without stating the reaso...
Researchers discovered that students working with a social robot featuring a charismatic voice produced more original and elaborate ideas compared to those who interacted with an identical robot using a flat voice. The study found that the charismatic robot's engaging tone increased team positivity, perceived effectiveness, and creativ...
A new, free online language course is available to learn the Ojibwe language, spoken in Indigenous communities around the Great Lakes. The course uses spaced repetition software to help learners memorize vocabulary and grammar.
Researchers found that people produce louder and slower speech with less pitch variation when communicating with AI systems, while clearer speech improves comprehension. The study aims to improve AI's ability to understand human speech and investigate language changes as technology advances.
Researchers have found that hearing aid users are dissatisfied with the sound quality of music when using their hearing aids. However, some manufacturers' music programs have improved significantly. The team tested 200 recordings and found that two brands stood out in terms of music quality.
Strokes can be largely prevented through education and lifestyle changes, such as moving more, healthy eating, and managing blood pressure. The American Stroke Association is launching a digital tool to educate people on stroke warning signs and risk factors, particularly for diverse populations.
A new study found that Mexican American people who spoke only Spanish had worse neurologic outcomes three months after a stroke compared to those who spoke English or were bilingual. The study involved 1,096 participants and controlled for factors such as education and blood pressure.
A machine-learning model was trained on 10 million tweets to infer users' subjective wellbeing. The study found that New Year's Day is the most popular holiday, followed by Defender of the Fatherland Day and International Women's Day. The researchers also discovered gender differences in attitudes towards certain holidays.
A new method for estimating sound direction using monaural cues has been proposed by researchers at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. The approach uses modulation in the frequency spectrum of the received signal to detect the signal direction, achieving accurate estimates even with human monaural hearing.
A machine-learning analysis of 59 million online posts reveals associations between real-world events and various types of hate speech, including anti-immigration and LGBTQ-related slurs. The study suggests a complex relationship between triggering events and online hate speech, with potential implications for mitigating such speech.
A new American Heart Association scientific statement emphasizes the importance of rapid evaluation for TIA, which can lead to full-blown stroke. The statement offers a standardized approach to evaluating people with suspected TIA, including guidance for hospitals in rural areas with limited resources.
A literature review reveals speech patterns can accurately diagnose psychiatric disorders, measure severity and predict onset. Automated analysis outperforms subjective measures like interviews or questionnaires.
Seal pups possess an innate ability to change their voice pitch and volume, as well as recognize and respond to rhythmic sounds. This study suggests a possible evolutionary link between human-like language abilities and vocal plasticity in seals.
Research suggests a universal pattern in profanity across different languages, with the lack of approximants being a common feature when perceiving swear words. Participants rated pseudo-words with and without approximants differently, indicating that approximant-free words were more likely to be considered swear words.
A team from California Institute of Technology has developed a brain-machine interface device that can predict internal speech in patients with tetraplegia. The device, trained on single neurons in the supramarginal gyrus, achieved accuracy up to 91% in predicting eight words.
A linguistic analysis of Nazi propaganda shows that dehumanization of Jews shifted over time, with earlier propaganda focusing on disengaging moral concern and later propaganda portraying Jews as having a greater capacity for agency. This study suggests that dehumanization can motivate violence by reducing moral concern for victim groups.
A comprehensive study compared the accuracy of human speaker identification with that of an automatic-speaker-recognition system. The forensic-voice-comparison system performed better than all tested listeners, including judges and jurors. This finding has significant implications for courtroom proceedings.
A new study by NYU researchers reveals that our brains use a 'time-stamp' mechanism to process the order of incoming sounds, allowing us to correctly recognize words being said. The brain achieves this feat by correlating different neural populations with specific speech sounds and time-stamping each sound with its relative order.
A study of 16 cats found they can differentiate their owner's voice from a stranger's, even when tone is changed. This suggests that cats form strong bonds with their owners based on experience of the speaker's voice.
Researchers discovered that humans automatically integrate extralinguistic information into grammatical processing, improving communication. The study used EEG data from 37 native Russian speakers, finding both linguistic and extralinguistic features processed simultaneously.
A study by researchers at Linköping University and the Oregon Health and Science University has discovered that many cells in the inner ear react simultaneously to low-frequency sound, making it easier to experience these sounds. This new understanding may lead to improved cochlear implants for people with severe hearing impairments.
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.
Scientists have identified two areas of the auditory cortex specialized to recognize human voice sounds without linguistic meaning. These regions help react to sound cues allowing people to identify characteristics of the person speaking, such as gender, age, and height. This discovery sheds light on neurological disorders affecting vo...
Researchers at UVA have created a new AI tool called SITHCon that can decode speech in different speeds, enabling machines to process information more efficiently. This breakthrough technology has the potential to alter how artificial neural networks 'think' and reduce AI's massive carbon footprint.
Researchers found that hearing one's own voice is critical for sense of agency over speech, helping to understand auditory hallucinations and improve VR experiences. The study's findings suggest a close connection between recognizing one's own voice and feeling in control.
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.
Researchers analyzed 47,112 Reddit comments to identify elements of tone and style linked to hyperpartisan echo chambers. Language features such as strong emotion, familiarity pronouns, and face-to-face conversation markers are common in hyperpartisan comments.
A study found that domesticated pigs and horses, as well as Asian wild horses, can tell the difference between positively and negatively charged sounds. The animals reacted stronger to negatively charged voices and showed mirroring of emotions.
Researchers mapped neural networks in marmoset and macaque monkeys to find that multiple areas in the frontal lobe control vocalization, contradicting a long-held view. This discovery could lead to a better understanding of speech disorders such as stuttering and apraxia.
A Carnegie Mellon University researcher is working to create technology that supports health and expands access to marginalized communities. Her research explores how older Black adults interact with voice assistant devices, highlighting challenges such as difficulty phrasing questions and 'code-switching' to adapt to formal dialects.
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.
Researchers at Radboud University found that as Zoom call video quality degrades, people start shouting and using more gestures to compensate. The study tracked participants' speech and gestures over 40 minutes of calls with deteriorating video quality.
Researchers have created a Russian-language protocol for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map individual language areas before neurosurgical operations. The study successfully validated the protocol in a control group, showing its ability to comprehensively map brain regions and reveal lateralisation of language function.
A new study reveals that competitive debates lead to increased polarization as individuals persuade themselves of their side's superiority, even if it conflicts with personal beliefs. The results suggest that self-persuasion is a significant contributor to the growing divide in society.
A study found that uncivil tweet replies to congresswomen of color doubled after Trump's initial derogatory remarks. The majority of replies contained stereotypes and threats, with a chilling effect on women who might speak out or run for office.
A study of 181 long COVID patients found that seven in ten experience concentration and memory problems, with many performing worse than their peers on cognitive tests. Cognitive symptoms were more pronounced in people whose overall ongoing symptoms were more severe.
A new study found that people's pronunciation of certain words changes after hearing a southern-accented talker, even if they didn't hear the actual sound. Participants who had never lived in the U.S. south still converged on a southern-like pronunciation, suggesting that expectations about accents shape our speech.
Studies using magnetic resonance imaging found a correlation between decreased blood flow in specific brain areas and tinnitus severity. Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explored these links to better understand the causes of tinnitus.
Researchers have developed a system that can capture the information in speech signals similar to how humans perceive speech. The method uses a matching pursuit algorithm and psychoacoustic principles to produce high-quality resynthesized speech signals with natural accents.
Researchers at the University of Groningen have developed an AI system that can recognize indoor spaces with high accuracy by combining image and audio data. The system achieved a 70% accuracy rate in recognizing nine different types of indoor spaces, surpassing previous results.
A study published in EPJ Data Science explores the effectiveness of counter speech in curbing online hate and disinformation. The research reveals that organized counter speech appears to contribute to a more balanced public discourse by increasing the frequency of counter speech and decreasing that of hate speech.
A Dartmouth study found that people who respond faster to each other in conversations feel more connected. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used response time data to measure social connection between strangers and close friends.
UCSF researchers discovered a small cluster of neurons in the brain stem that regulates tempo and coordinates breathing with vocalization. This finding has implications for understanding speech pathologies, as altered wiring in this system may cause difficulties with speaking.
People with mild dementia struggle to understand speech in both quiet and acoustically challenging situations. Effective communication strategies include speaking clearly and slowly, reducing background noise, and providing contextual information.
A new theory suggests that stuttering is caused by anomalies in the brain's initiation circuit, which chooses a word to speak. This circuit is separate from the muscle-coordinating circuit, and its impairment leads to stuttering. Researchers believe this could lead to targeted treatments for stuttering with fewer side effects.
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.
Researchers at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology create method to estimate five-room acoustic parameters and speech transmission index using a short conversation, with potential applications in monitoring auditoriums during concerts and saving lives through smart speakers
New research published in eNeuro found that sharing happy stories increases feelings of closeness and synchronizes brain activity between the speaker and listener. Brain synchrony was linked to increased interpersonal closeness, particularly in regions involved in emotional processing and theory of mind.
Researchers will track oral health behaviors and caries risk in low-income urban young children over five years, collecting data on caregiver-reported habits, dental plaque scores, and social risk factors. The study aims to understand the impact of community-level factors on individual behaviors.
Researchers used MEG to measure brain activity while participants listened to simultaneous math equations and sentences, finding separate networks for each. The parietal lobe processed math and the temporal lobe processed language, with activity tracking every word and symbol.
A Tokyo University of Science researcher analyzed 8,000 infant names and found that common boys' name "大翔" has at least 18 readings, while girls' name "結愛" has at least 14. The study shows that parents use various readings, including non-existent ones, and abbreviate common readings.
Researchers analyzed spoken and sung verbal snippets with corresponding drum and song excerpts, finding high acoustic correlation between talking drums and Yorùbá language. The study also explores the connection between music and speech, shedding light on the relationship between auditory communication and language evolution.
The study analyzed two million parliamentary speeches in the UK and Ireland, finding that politicians use emotive language more in high-profile debates like PMQs to attract a wider audience. In low-profile debates, emotional rhetoric is less pronounced as politicians mostly address colleagues.
Researchers found that intermediate-sized respiratory droplets emitted while speaking can carry significant amounts of virus and remain suspended in air for minutes. These 'speech droplets' pose a considerable risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, particularly in enclosed spaces without proper ventilation.
Researchers have developed a deep-learning model that can track changes in speech coordination features to detect depression. The app aims to provide early intervention before severe depression sets in, potentially saving lives.