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Researchers Report Decoding Thoughts from fMRI Data
A method appears to be the first to noninvasively reconstruct language from brain activity.
Researchers Report Decoding Thoughts from fMRI Data
Researchers Report Decoding Thoughts from fMRI Data

A method appears to be the first to noninvasively reconstruct language from brain activity.

A method appears to be the first to noninvasively reconstruct language from brain activity.

language

An archeological dig site cordoned off
DNA Analyses Illuminate Origins of Farming, Ancestral Languages
Andy Carstens | Aug 26, 2022 | 3 min read
The findings suggest a new hypothesis of Indo-European language evolution.
Ursula Bellugi smiling for the camera wearing a purple shirt in 2015
Ursula Bellugi, Leading Sign Language Neuroscientist, Dies at 91
Lisa Winter | May 11, 2022 | 3 min read
Her research showed that communication via sign language is as neurologically complex as spoken language. 
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A Way with Words: Using Genomics to Dispel Stuttering Myths
The Scientist’s Creative Services Team | 1 min read
Filling in the gaps about the genetic risk factors of stuttering may help scientists shatter stigmas and discover new therapies.
Mushrooms in the forest next to a tree trunk covered in moss.
Can Mushrooms “Talk” to Each Other?
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Apr 6, 2022 | 2 min read
Forest floor-dwelling fungi can send one another electrical signals to form word-like clusters, according to a computer scientist, but whether that represents something akin to language isn’t clear.
Photo of wooden block letters
Distracted Brains Better at Parsing Unfamiliar Languages: Study
Catherine Offord | Apr 4, 2022 | 2 min read
People who had cognitive functions depleted by noninvasive brain stimulation or a mentally demanding task could subconsciously recognize individual words in a made-up language more easily than controls, researchers find.
Trixie Gardner (left) and Allen Gardner (right) spend time interacting with Washoe (center).
R. Allen Gardner, Who Taught Chimps to Sign, Dies at 91
Lisa Winter | Oct 5, 2021 | 2 min read
Gardner famously claimed to have taught chimpanzees to communicate with people using American Sign Language by raising them as if they were human children.
Conceptual image of numbers
Is Your Brain Wired for Numbers?
Catherine Offord | Oct 1, 2021 | 10+ min read
Our perception of quantity, separate from counting or estimation of magnitude more generally, is foundational to human cognition, according to some neuroscientists.
One white mouse with red eyes runs on a blue exercise wheel, while another mouse stands with front paws on the wheel
Serious Infections Linked to Autism: Study
Abby Olena, PhD | Sep 17, 2021 | 5 min read
In both a mouse model and the hospital records of more than 3 million children, researchers found a connection between strong immune activation in males and later symptoms of autism spectrum disorder.
A woman sits with a camera and recording equipment looking up at a tree full of bats (unseen).
Baby Talk: Bat Pups Babble Like Human Infants
Annie Melchor | Aug 20, 2021 | 4 min read
By studying the vocal behavior of 20 baby bats from birth to weaning, researchers have identified striking similarities between how young humans and bats develop communication skills.
mole-rat, naked mole-rat, animal behavior, social behavior, dialect, language, eusocial, evolution,
Naked Mole Rat Colonies Have Their Own Unique Dialects
Amanda Heidt | Feb 4, 2021 | 6 min read
Chirp dialects appear to be enforced by the colony’s queen, but scientists aren’t sure how. 
Publishing in English Presents Challenges for International Authors
Jef Akst | Mar 10, 2020 | 8 min read
When submitting manuscripts to Western journals, authors face issues that go beyond language barriers.
gender imbalance stem science women researchers publications citations
Men Promote Scientific Findings More Effusively than Women Do
Lisa Winter | Dec 17, 2019 | 2 min read
Male researchers are more likely to describe their work in publications using positive superlatives than their female colleagues are, a habit tied to more citations.
Do English-Only Policies Foster or Damage Inclusivity in Science?
Shawna Williams | Dec 1, 2019 | 9 min read
Speaking a common language is key to a well-integrated team, but guidance is sparse on what—if anything—principal investigators should do about it.
hemispherectomy epilepsy fmri brain neural connections
Missing Brain Hemisphere Tied to Fortified Neural Networks
Kerry Grens | Nov 20, 2019 | 2 min read
A small study finds that patients who had half their brains removed to treat epilepsy have stronger neural networks than controls, perhaps explaining how they can retain language and cognition skills.
The Brain Interprets Spoken and Written Language the Same Way
Catherine Offord | Nov 1, 2019 | 2 min read
Neural activity associated with the meaning of words is independent of whether those words are read or listened to, a study finds.
mri fmri neuroscience genetics cognition
Replication Refutes Study Linking Neuroimaging to Genetics
Emma Yasinski | Sep 30, 2019 | 3 min read
The original experiment found brain activity as measured by fMRI was tied to particular genetic variants.
abc stroke perinatal language development
Kids’ Brains Remarkably Plastic After Stroke
Ashley P. Taylor | Aug 23, 2019 | 5 min read
A small study reports that, among children who had left-hemisphere damage as newborns, the complementary region of the right hemisphere appears to compensate and protect language development.
Softer Diets Allowed Early Humans to Pronounce “F,” “V” Sounds
Katarina Zimmer | Mar 14, 2019 | 4 min read
Drastic dietary changes during the agricultural revolution altered the configuration of the human bite, paving the way for new sounds in spoken language, a new study finds.
Duke Professor Urged Chinese Students to Speak English
Carolyn Wilke | Jan 28, 2019 | 2 min read
In an email, biostatistics professor Megan Neely warned students of “unintended consequences” from speaking their native language on campus. She has since left a leadership post.
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