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This shows a mom holding her child's hand on a walk

·January 3, 2022·5 min read

When Mom Talks, Are Infants With ASD Listening?

Infants and toddlers on the autism spectrum who showed the poorest neural responses to motherese, or baby-talk by parents, also displayed the most severe social symptoms, poorest language outcomes, and greatest impairments in behavioral preference and attention toward motherese. Conversely, neurotypical children showed stronger neural responses and affinity to motherese.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·December 30, 2021·4 min read

Can an Accent Influence Moral Decision-Making?

When presented with a moral decision in their native language by people with a foreign accent, people tend to make more rational decisions.

This shows the white matter fiber tracts in the subcortical area of the brain

Featured Neuroscience

·December 29, 2021·5 min read

Keeping the Aging Brain Connected With Words and Music

Learning a new language or playing a musical instrument has a positive impact on cognitive function in the aging brain, researchers report.

This shows people surrounded by speech bubbles

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·December 12, 2021·4 min read

Our Emotions and Identity Can Affect How We Use Grammar

Study reveals how emotional context affects how we use and understand language at the neural level.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 11, 2021·3 min read

Speaking “Baby Talk” to Infants Isn’t Just Cute: It Could Help Them Learn to Make Words

Parents who use "baby talk" help their infants to produce speech, a new study reports.

This shows a little girl reading on a pile of books

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·December 5, 2021·4 min read

Studies of Children’s Stories Shows Differences in Russian and U.S. Approaches to Emotion

Russian children's books focus more heavily on negative human emotions, such as anger, sadness, and fear than books US parents are likely to expose their young children to.

This is a readout of brain activity data from the study

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·November 20, 2021·5 min read

Monkeys, Guinea Pigs and Native English Speakers Have Very Similar Brain Responses to Speech Sounds

The sound of speech elicits similar neural responses and stimulates the same brain regions in humans, guinea pigs, and macaque monkeys.

This shows a person making a metal bag, using hand tools

Featured Neuroscience

·November 13, 2021·5 min read

Tool Use and Language Skills Are Linked in the Brain: Practicing One Improves the Other

Fine motor skills utilized by using tools engage parts of the brain similar to those mobilized when we think about the construction of a sentence, researchers report.

This shows a conversation between a human and chatbot

Featured Neuroscience

·November 8, 2021·3 min read

Want to Throw off Your Chatbot? Use Figurative Language

When chatbots are faced with human interaction containing similes and idioms, their performance falls to between 10 to 20%.

This shows a woman at a laptop with the word "Hello" written in different languages behind her

Featured Neuroscience

·November 3, 2021·5 min read

Bilingualism Comes Naturally to Our Brains

Language switching comes naturally for bilingual people as their brains have a mechanism that does not detect a switch in language, allowing for a seamless transition in comprehending more than one language at once.

This shows a little girl's pink rain boots and a pink umbrella.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·October 30, 2021·5 min read

Examining the Effects of Extreme Precipitations on the Physical and Cognitive Development of Children

Extreme "weather shock" experiences that occur during the early stages of life have significant effects on the cognitive, behavioral, and often physical development of a child.