In the latest advance in brain-to-brain communication, I-LABS researchers demonstrate how two brains collaboratively problem solve. University of Washington researchers recently used a direct brain-to-brain connection to enable pairs of participants to play a question-and-answer game by transmitting signals from one brain to the other over the Internet. The experiment, detailed September 23 in PLOS ONE, is thought to be … Read More
Babies’ Brain Responses to Touch Reveal Body Map
See an adorable baby and it can be hard to resist reaching out for a cuddle. The sense of touch is the earliest form of communication between babies and their caregivers. It’s one way we say “I love you” long before infants understand language. Now scientists at the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) and Temple … Read More
‘What Could Be More Fascinating?’ Director of I-LABS MEG Facility
Learn how Samu Taulu went from an early interest in math and physics to becoming a world leader in MEG technology. A brain-imaging technique, magnetoencephalography (MEG), is the powerhouse behind some of the most groundbreaking research at the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences. With the recent hiring of Samu Taulu as director of the I-LABS’ MEG … Read More
Do Female Teachers Help Girls Overcome STEM Stereotypes?
To get more girls into tech careers we need to counteract negative stereotypes about the field, UW and I-LABS research shows. Women make up only about 20 percent of the recipients of bachelor’s degrees in computer science, creating a large gender disparity. This gap has received ample attention for its causes and what can be done about it. “Women are missing out … Read More
Infant, Control Thyself
The latest I-LABS research shows that toddlers who watch an argument use that emotional information to avoid making adults angry. The study, led by I-LABS’ Betty Repacholi and Andrew Meltzoff, shows that children as young as 15 months can detect anger when watching other people’s social interactions and then use that emotional information to guide their own behavior. “Through studying … Read More
Learning by Watching, Toddlers Show Intuitive Understanding of Probability
I-LABS’ Anna Waismeyer and Andrew Meltzoff report that 24-month-olds can make sense of imperfect cause-and-effect relationships. The latest research from I-LABS shows that toddlers as young as 24-months-old intuitively understand probability in a cause-and-effect game in which the children had to choose which strategy was more likely to work. I-LABS’ Waismeyer and Andrew Meltzoff and co-author Alison Gopnik at the … Read More
New research: Infant brains ‘rehearse’ speech mechanics while listening
A new finding was published in the July 14, 2014 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Research in 7- and 11-month-old infants shows that speech sounds stimulate areas of the brain that coordinate and plan motor movements for speech. This suggests that baby brains start laying down the groundwork of how to form words long before they … Read More
Dr. Patricia Kuhl and US Sec. of Education Arne Duncan address US Conference of Mayors
Watch Dr. Patricia Kuhl participate in a panel discussion with US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, during the 90-minute plenary session ‘Building an Early Learning Nation’. The session will be live streamed on http://www.usmayors.org Date: Saturday, June 21Start Time: 7:50 a.m. Central Time and 5:50 a.m. Pacific Time
New research highlights importance of live interaction for children
New study has found that children are able to learn more effectively through live interaction and video chat technology. A new study conducted by the UW, Temple University (TU), and the University of Delaware (UDEL), has found that children are able to learn more effectively through live interaction and video chat technology such as Skype, as opposed to watching a … Read More
New Research: While in womb, babies begin learning language from their mothers
Each time a newborn sucks on the pacifier, a computer delivers sound into the headphones. The sounds are computer-generated versions of vowels. Infants in both countries were tested with English and Swedish vowels. This newborn in Sweden is listening to an English vowel; after long pause in sucking, the vowel is changed. The number of sucking responses to each vowel … Read More