Latest

communication

·July 22, 2024·4 min read

Chimps Use Gestures, Like Humans, to Communicate

Researchers have found that chimpanzees communicate with gestures in a rapid turn-taking pattern similar to human conversation. Studying over 8,500 gestures across five wild communities, they discovered that chimpanzees exchange gestures with pauses averaging 120 milliseconds.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 16, 2024·5 min read

Breaking Silence: Giving the Silent a Voice Through Thoughts

Researchers enabled a silent person to produce speech using thought alone. Depth electrodes in the participant's brain transmitted electrical signals to a computer, which then vocalized imagined syllables. This technology offers hope for paralyzed individuals to regain speech. The study marks a significant step towards brain-computer interfaces for voluntary communication.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 13, 2024·3 min read

Heat Waves Reduce Politicians’ Speech Complexity

High temperatures lead to simpler language in parliamentary speeches. Analyzing seven million speeches from 28,000 politicians, researchers discovered that heat negatively impacts cognitive abilities. This effect was more pronounced in older politicians. The findings highlight the broader impacts of climate change on human performance and decision-making.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 11, 2024·6 min read

Elephants Use Names to Call Each Other

Wild African elephants use name-like calls to address each other, a rare ability among nonhuman animals. Researchers confirmed this by using machine learning to analyze elephant calls and observing that elephants responded specifically to calls addressed to them.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 7, 2024·3 min read

Baboons’ Brain Anatomy Predicts Hand Preference for Communication

A study on newborn baby baboons' brain anatomy predicts their future hand preference for communication. Researchers found that baboons with left-side brain asymmetry in the planum temporale (PT) tend to use their right hand for gestures.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 15, 2024·6 min read

How Gossip Shapes Cooperation

A new study explores how gossip influences cooperation and behavior. Researchers found that gossip helps maintain social order by spreading information about reputations, which encourages cooperative behavior.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 11, 2024·6 min read

Friendly Chats Mitigate Social Exclusion Effects

Simple social interactions, like chatting with a friend, can mitigate the effects of social exclusion. The research found that both face-to-face conversations and anticipating future interactions help individuals recover quicker from social slights and feel more secure.

This shows an older man using a cell phone.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 28, 2024·5 min read

Let’s Talk: Web-Based Chats Boost Brain Function in Older Adults

Internet-based conversations can significantly improve cognitive functions in socially isolated older adults. The trial, known as I-CONECT, involved 186 participants aged 75 and older who engaged in structured video chats four times weekly, which helped enhance memory and executive function, particularly among those with mild cognitive impairment.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 26, 2024·5 min read

Talking Hands: Cultural Codes in Hand Gestures

A new study confirms Italians gesture more than Swedes, but more importantly, it reveals the diverse functions and frequencies of gestures across cultures. Analyzing storytelling methods, the study found Italians favor pragmatic gestures to guide narrative flow, while Swedes prefer representational gestures to depict actions and events.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 6, 2023·6 min read

Neural Implant Translates Brainwaves Into Words

A new speech prosthetic offers hope for those with speech-impairing neurological disorders. By converting brain signals into speech using high-density sensors and machine learning, the technology represents a significant advancement over current slower communication aids.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 26, 2023·7 min read

Decoding Baby Talk: How Adults Understand Early Linguistic Efforts

New research delves into how adults make sense of the limited vocabulary of young children. Through analyzing thousands of hours of transcribed audio, researchers created computational models to understand adult interpretations of baby talk.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 26, 2023·3 min read

Zoom Conversations vs In-Person: Brain Activity Tells a Different Tale

A new study reveals a significant disparity in neural activity during face-to-face conversations compared to Zoom interactions. Using advanced neuroimaging, researchers observed suppressed neural signals during online exchanges.