Articles tagged with Speech
Research finds speaking and understanding speech use same areas of the brain, with no involvement of motor regions when listening, contradicting previous assumptions. The study suggests that language-related problems may not always be independent, and offers new avenues for treatment.
A new study reveals that adults who stutter have a brain reorganization that shifts the processing of hearing and motor functions to the right hemisphere. This finding sheds light on the mechanisms underlying persistent developmental stuttering.
The ABCD2 score, used to identify people at risk of stroke after transient ischemic attack, has low sensitivity and limited clinical application. The study found that patients with an ABCD2 score above five had only a low rate of subsequent strokes.
The American Institute of Physics has posted lay-language summaries of recent research presentations at the Acoustical Society meeting. These summaries cover a wide range of topics, including biomedical ultrasound, reducing underwater noise, and new car mufflers. The online collection offers easily approachable explanations of complex ...
A Northwestern University study finds that lifelong musical training can benefit adults by offsetting age-related decline in memory and ability to hear speech in noisy environments. Musicians aged 45-65 outperform non-musicians in auditory memory, hearing speech in noise, and other cognitive functions.
Researchers found that Republican and Democratic narratives about the American South shaped the way Americans view themselves. Dr. Christina Moss argues that these narratives effectively marginalized African-Americans by defining regional identity in terms of white voters' control over power.
A Cardiff University study found a strong link between happy hour-style drinking promotions and pub violence in the UK. The research suggests that premises with aggressive pricing strategies and lax staff monitoring are more likely to experience high levels of violence.
A Stanford study reveals how metaphors influence attitudes towards crime, finding that 'beast' and 'virus' framings lead to different proposed solutions. The researchers found that people are more likely to support increased policing if crime is described as a 'beast', while social reform approaches are favored when crime is seen as a ...
A recent study published in Psychological Science suggests that imitating someone who speaks with a regional or foreign accent may help you understand them better. Participants who imitated the accent performed significantly better at understanding sentences spoken in an unfamiliar accent.
Researchers developed a hybrid approach combining bionic wavelet transform and recurrent neural network for improved speech enhancement. The method showed significant noise reduction without compromising intelligibility, achieving a 12 dB increase in signal-to-noise ratio.
Researchers at UC Riverside found that people who lipread a silent face articulate words sound like the person speaking, rather than their own words. This suggests that our brains are primed by speech articulation and can imitate speech patterns even when we're not actively listening.
Researchers found that right-handers favor their dominant hand for positive ideas and non-dominant hand for negative thoughts. Conversely, left-handers use their left hand for positive expressions and right hand for negative ones. These findings suggest people link 'good' with the side of their body they can use most fluently.
Researchers developed a technique that analyzes speech patterns to detect early signs of Parkinson's disease. Studies show the method can distinguish between individuals with PD and healthy speakers, even in early stages of the disease.
Researchers found that words significantly impacted 3-month-old infants' cognitive performance in a categorization task. Infants who heard words showed evidence of forming the fish category, while those who heard tones did not.
Researchers from NC State have developed new speech authentication technology that improves speed and accuracy, paving the way for practical applications in various industries. The technology has the potential to prevent ID theft, fraud, and data protection issues.
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.