RMIT University researchers have used data from mobile phone accelerometers — the tiny sensors tracking phone movement for step-counting and other apps — to predict people’s personalities. RMIT University computer scientist Associate Professor Flora Salim said previous studies had predicted personality types using phone call and messaging activity logs, but this study showed adding accelerometer […]
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Area of brain linked to spatial awareness and planning also plays role in decision making
New research by neuroscientists at the University of Chicago shows that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), an area of the brain often associated with planning movements and spatial awareness, also plays a crucial role in making decisions about images in the field of view. “Traditionally this part of the brain has been thought to be […]
Speech recognition technology is not a solution for poor readers
Could artificial intelligence be a solution for people who cannot read well (functional illiterates) or those who cannot read at all (complete illiterates)? According to psycholinguists, speech technology should never replace learning how to read. Researchers argue that literacy leads to a better understanding of speech because good readers are good at predicting words. Even […]
Measurement of thoughts during knowledge acquisition
In a recent learning study they were able to show that new conceptual information is stored along spatial dimensions in form of a mental map located in the hippocampus. Together with colleagues from the Donders Institute at Radboud University in Nijmegen, they observed brain activity patterns that support the idea that the neural mechanisms that […]
Infants’ advances in speech processing play role in language-cognition link
A new Northwestern University study provides the first evidence that infants’ increasingly precise perceptual tuning to the sounds of their native language sets constraints on the range of human languages they will link to cognition. According to the researchers, this reveals that as early as 3 to 4 months, infants’ advances in speech processing play […]
New AI computer vision system mimics how humans visualize and identify objects
Researchers from UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and Stanford have demonstrated a computer system that can discover and identify the real-world objects it “sees” based on the same method of visual learning that humans use. The system is an advance in a type of technology called “computer vision,” which enables computers to read and identify […]
Women much less likely to ask questions in academic seminars than men
A new study reveals a stark disparity between male and female participation in a key area of academic life and offers recommendations to ensure all voices are heard. Women are two and a half times less likely to ask a question in departmental seminars than men, an observational study of 250 events at 35 academic […]
We may hear others’ footsteps, but how do we ignore our own?
A team of scientists has uncovered the neural processes mice use to ignore their own footsteps, a discovery that offers new insights into how we learn to speak and play music. The research is reported in the journal Nature. “The ability to ignore one’s own footsteps requires the brain to store and recall memories and […]
Adult-child conversations strengthen language regions of developing brain: Study suggests talking with children from early age could promote language skills regardless of socioeconomic status
Young children who are regularly engaged in conversation by adults may have stronger connections between two developing brain regions critical for language, according to a study of healthy young children that confirms a hypothesis registered with the Open Science Framework. This finding, published in JNeurosci, was independent of parental income and education, suggesting that talking […]
Who made the error? The brain distinguishes causes of errors to perform adaptation
Practice is necessary to improve motor skills. Even if one performs poorly at first, one’s athletic performance improves through repeated exercise due to the reduction of motor errors as the brain learns. However, it’s important to remember that there are two types of errors: motor errors caused by poor motor control and target errors caused […]