Articles tagged with Speech
A University of Oregon team has isolated an independent channel in the brain's auditory cortex that deals specifically with shutting off sound processing at appropriate times. This finding supports an emerging theory that a separate set of synapses is responsible for both processing sounds and their disappearance.
A new study finds that people who use more empathetic language also have increased activity in brain regions responsible for producing and understanding intonation. This suggests a link between emotional intelligence and the ability to perceive prosody, or the 'music' of speech.
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have identified neurons in the songbird brain that convey auditory feedback needed to learn a song. The study lays the groundwork for improving human speech in individuals with damaged auditory nerves, and explores how the brain compares performance-related feedback to a sensory model.
The study found that when gesture and speech convey the same information, they are easier to understand than when they convey different information. This suggests that gesture and speech form an integrated system that helps us in language comprehension.
A study by Penn State researchers used a computer model to compare senators' voting records to their floor statements on issues. The findings showed that legislators tend to use nouns and adjectives that signal their voting patterns. Future research could include building automated programs to analyze real-time data.
Research at Duke University reveals that music scales are based on the physics of the human voice, mirroring speech's emotional content. This study provides new insights into why humans appreciate music, suggesting it mimics speech's emotional expression.
A study by Professor Maureen S Durkin and colleagues found that children in low- and middle-income countries are at higher risk of disability due to nutritional deficiencies, lack of early-learning activities, and limited educational access. The researchers analyzed data from 18 countries and found significant associations between disa...
Research from Northwestern University's Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory confirms that children with developmental dyslexia have trouble tuning into relevant auditory signals. The study suggests that poor readers who struggle with processing sound in noisy environments may benefit from simple strategies to enhance their listening skills.
A new speech-to-speech translation system aims to improve communication between healthcare providers and patients who speak different languages. The system, developed by USC researchers, will use prosodic information, discourse cues, and user state information to enhance human communication capabilities.
A University of East Anglia study reveals that computers are now better at lip-reading than humans, with an 80% recognition rate compared to 32% for human viewers. The research suggests a new video-based training system can improve lip-reading skills with limited training.
A Northwestern University study finds that musicians can better understand speech in noise due to improved auditory processing skills. The research suggests musical training could be beneficial for individuals with hearing or reading difficulties, particularly older adults and poor readers.
A groundbreaking surgery has enabled Connie Culp to regain facial function and appearance after being shot in the face with a shotgun. The procedure involved a 22-hour operation to connect donor tissues to her disfigured structures, resulting in restored smell, eating, drinking, and intelligible speech.
A new Northwestern University study found that a child's brain has trouble differentiating key sounds in noisy classrooms, leading to reading difficulties. The research suggests that auditory training and reducing background noise can help improve reading skills in poor readers.
A new study by Brown University researchers found that the left inferior frontal sulcus brain area processes both phonetic sounds and decision-making tasks. The findings suggest that this region of the brain is a shared resource used for categorizing language and non-language items.
A study published in Current Biology found that people with dyslexia have a different brain activation pattern when integrating letters with speech sounds. This neural deficit may distinguish poor from good readers and offer a promising link to phonology processing difficulties.
Researchers have documented a primate mimicking a sound from another species without specific training, shedding light on the evolution of speech and learning in orangutans. The study's findings suggest that orangutans can learn new sounds and use them voluntarily, opening up new avenues for studying human speech evolution.
Prosthetic ears have been shown to improve sound pickup by 8.1 decibels, benefiting patients with normal hearing who wear them.
A woman in southern Ontario acquired a unique Maritime Canadian accent after a stroke, according to a study by McMaster University researchers. Despite intensive speech therapy, the new accent persists, even two years later.
A Stanford study reveals that cars with AI voices can collect sensitive data on drivers' habits, preferences, and emotions, potentially used by insurance companies, advertisers, and governments to influence behavior
Researchers have found that humans can filter out background noise and focus on a single speaker's voice due to unique temporal fine structures in voiced speech. Long-range inhibitory interactions in the auditory cortex enable this selective representation.
Research finds that longer waits can facilitate coping with negative events, reducing overall stress levels. Consumers prefer extra waiting time to mentally prepare and cope with the impending event.
Scientists have discovered that Broca's region in the brain plays a crucial role in interpreting speech by constructing unique interpretations of spoken words. This mechanism allows humans to hear new sounds when conflicting verbal and visual signals are present.
A meta-analysis of decades of scientific study reveals a small but statistically reliable tendency for men to be more talkative than women overall, especially in conversations with strangers. Women tend to dominate conversations with children and close friends, while using speech to build connections with listeners.
Researchers found that Shuar participants could distinguish infant-directed speech from adult-directed speech with 73% accuracy, indicating a universal understanding of vocal emotional communication. This study provides support for the notion that baby talk conveys similar intentions across cultures.
A woman who suffered a brain bleed and aphasia due to a bicycle accident began hearing her own thoughts aloud and hallucinating hospital staff's voices. Her symptoms improved with treatment, but her experiences suggest that auditory hallucinations can arise from neurological conditions affecting speech processing.
A study found that hand gestures significantly enhance learning, with 90% of students recalling algebraic concepts after three weeks. The method taps into the need to experience information through interacting with the environment, making it a free and effective teaching aid.
A specific resonance pattern in the brain's auditory processing region is crucial for distinguishing speech, according to researchers. The inherent rhythm of neural activity in the theta band reacts to spoken sentences by changing its phase and samples segments about a syllable's length.
A new study shows that human infants are able to recognize abstract rules in language as early as seven months old, with a stronger drive to understand speech patterns. Infants can generalize learned rules from speech to non-linguistic stimuli, suggesting an innate ability to learn language.
A study of 666 head and neck cancer patients found that 38.1% discontinued work due to cancer and treatment, with fatigue being the leading factor. The study highlights the need for interventions to minimize disability after treatment and provide more information about employment to patients.
A study by UC Riverside researchers found that individuals who lip-read a speaker's face are better at identifying words in noisy sentences when they hear the same speaker again. This suggests that watching a person speak can create a familiar pattern of speech characteristics, making it easier to recognize and hear them later.
Researchers used MRI scans to simulate everyday experience of people with cochlear implants, finding the angular gyrus plays a key role in decoding distorted sentences. In noisy environments, other brain regions are engaged to help interpret predictable speech.
A new scoring system, ABCD-squared, predicts early stroke risk after TIA with higher accuracy than existing scores. The system assigns points based on clinical features such as blood pressure, weakness, and diabetes to identify groups at high, moderate, or low-risk.
Parke Wilde's analysis reveals that checkoff programs, such as 'Got Milk?' and 'Pork. The other white meat?', promote calorie-heavy foods like bacon cheeseburgers and barbecue pork ribs, which contradict the Dietary Guidelines' emphasis on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products.
Researchers confirm the Olmec people wrote down their speech around 900 BC, based on nearby art and a stone block discovery in southern Veracruz, Mexico. This finding is significant as it marks the first strong indication of visual recorded speech among the Olmec civilization.
University of Chicago scientists found that people unconsciously modulate their voices to convey additional information beyond words. They can compress words to indicate meaning and adjust pitch to describe motion, making conversations more comprehensible.
A patient with a disorder of consciousness (DOAC) has made a miraculous recovery after 19 years in a minimally conscious state. The study suggests that axonal re-growth may be the key to this recovery, allowing for functions like motor control and speech to resume.
Dr. Feine has made significant contributions to prosthodontics through her research on implant-supported prostheses and maxillary implant prostheses on speech. She is recognized for her outstanding research accomplishments in the field of prosthodontics with the Research in Prosthodontics and Implants Award.
A USC Information Sciences Institute system identifies alpha chatterers in online communities, enabling the extraction of statistically correct answers. The method integrates speech act analysis, lexical similarity, and poster trustworthiness to create links for interpretation.
Researchers at Ohio State University have created a vast repository of casual conversations, labeling every syllable and sound. The Buckeye Speech Corpus offers a unique resource for scientists studying communication, speech sciences, linguistics, and more.
A study found that grammatical thought processes significantly affect ambiguous pronoun resolution, with the grammatical aspect being more important than order-of-mention. The results suggest our brains infer meaning from parts of speech and think in grammatical terms, supporting the importance of learning grammar rules.
A German study found that patients with right-brain stroke were less likely to receive thrombolysis treatment and be admitted to hospital within 3 hours of stroke onset compared to those with left-hemispheric events. This underdiagnosis poses challenges for optimizing stroke management, particularly in the early stages.
A multidisciplinary team at USC Viterbi School created a two-way voice translation system that turns doctor's English questions into Persian and vice versa. The Transonics Spoken Dialog Translator uses a combination of human observation, computer code, and machine learning to achieve fluent communication.
Scientists have discovered a subset of learning disabilities resulting from a dysfunction in the brainstem's encoding of basic sounds of speech. BioMAP, a simple neurophysiological test, can identify children with sound processing disorders and improve their speech discrimination skills through auditory training.
A Carnegie Mellon study reveals that infant-directed speech aids infants in learning words more quickly than normal adult speech. This research also sheds light on why adults struggle to learn a second language, as they can use their native tongue effortlessly.
Patients with Speaker's Cramp experienced significant relief from grimacing and speech difficulties after receiving Botox injections. The condition's severity was correlated to digastric muscle activity levels.
A recent study by Zenzi Griffin found that people who make word substitution mistakes, such as calling a hammer an axe, look at the object just as long before speaking as they do when speaking correctly. The study suggests that speech errors are more indicative of planning issues than attention problems.
Researchers taught baby sparrows to sing a complete song using overlapping segments, revealing that memories are stored as distinct phrases. This study provides insights into the physiological basis of language learning in birds and may inform understanding of speech development in humans.
Research suggests a double dissociation in deficit and nondeficit schizophrenia, with summer births associated with deficit syndrome. The association was found across six countries in the northern hemisphere, supporting seasonal variations in etiology.
A German Border collie named Rico demonstrated a vocabulary size comparable to that of language-trained apes, dolphins, sea lions, and parrots. The dog learned the names of unfamiliar toys after just one exposure, using fast mapping abilities similar to those seen in human language acquisition.
King Chung's research shows that combining hearing aid technologies with cochlear implants reduces background noise, enhances speech understanding, and improves sound quality. Cochlear implant users prefer conditions with advanced hearing aid preprocessing.
Researchers found that gradual exposure to frequency-shifted sounds improved subject's ability to comprehend speech in cochlear implants. Brain scans revealed systematic changes in cortical responses after several hours of exposure.
The next generation of speech recognizers will go beyond conversion to text, using information detectors that provide a machine with digestible information. Researchers are working on new mathematical algorithms and paradigms to tackle the broader problem of human-to-machine and machine-to-human speech.
A study using fMRI found that children with seriously delayed speech have higher levels of right brain lobe activity and less total brain activation than age-matched children. This suggests that speech-delayed children may be less receptive to language as they age, highlighting the importance of early intervention.
Researchers used fMRI to study brain activity in response to Western and traditional Chinese music. They found no overall differences in brain activation between cultures, but significant differences based on musical training. Musicians showed greater brain activity in response to Western music and greater recall of both styles.
According to Lawrence R. Rabiner, voice control will become as accurate and efficient as keyboard or mouse input, allowing for a new era of human-machine interaction. Devices will be network accessible and controllable from anywhere, blurring the lines between work life and home life.
Researchers found that musicians played at a tempo closer to fast music when listened to before playing, while speakers read faster or slower after hearing a recording's speaking rate. Both groups unconsciously coordinate timing to find a mutually agreeable tempo.
A study of 14 adults with persistent developmental stuttering found that DAF was more effective for those with atypical auditory anatomy. The research also identified two subgroups: one with rightward planum temporale asymmetry who showed improved fluency, and another with leftward planum temporale asymmetry who did not respond to DAF.
Researchers found that bystanders correctly administered the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS) directions 96% of the time, detecting key symptoms like arm weakness and slurred speech. This ability can allow untrained adults to act as 'eyes and ears' for emergency dispatchers, potentially improving stroke diagnosis and treatment.
Researchers at North Carolina State University challenge dominant linguistic theories of African-American English, proposing a new model based on African-based Creole language and regional dialects. Their research, conducted in Hyde County and the Appalachian Mountains, reveals similarities between black speech and African influences.
Researchers discovered a melodic cue that allows speakers to pause briefly without interrupting each other, increasing speaker continuation rates by up to 91% in grammatically complete sentence fragments.