Allison Master, former I-LABS Postdoc and current collaborator has been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) by President Biden. This award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers. PECASE recognizes scientists and engineers who show exceptional potential for leadership early in their research careers. Allison Master leads … Read More
ScienceAdviser Newsletter “Protostar” is I-LABS faculty, Dr. Christina Zhao
Every weekday, ScienceAdviser Editors deliver the world of science via newsletter, keeping subscribers up to date on the most important trends and breakthroughs. Today’s ScienceAdviser “Protostar” is I-LABS faculty, Dr. Christina Zhao, whose research into how infants process music and speech made her a finalist for this year’s NOMIS and Science Young Explorer Award. From the Protostar interview with Dr. … Read More
Accelerated brain maturation shown in teens post-pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic produced dramatic changes in the daily lives of adolescents, and these changes were particularly detrimental for teens’ academic, social, and emotional development. Using brain measures (Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI), I-LABS scientists studied the structure of the brain in teens ranging in age from 9 to 20 years, both before and after the pandemic. Brain maturation is … Read More
Former I-LABS postdoc pens opinion piece for CNN
Onnie Rogers, former I-LABS postdoc and currently Associate Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, wrote an opinion piece for CNN that recognizes barriers faced by elite Black female athletes like gymnast Gabby Douglas. Rogers was a former elite gymnast herself, and now does research on how children and adolescents make sense of their racial, ethnic and gender identities.
New research compares speech and music in babies’ environment
First controlled study on speech vs. music yields surprises I-LABS scientists sought a snapshot of infants’ auditory environments. Unlike previous research which documents the amount of speech and language that infants hear, no previous work looked at the amount of music infants hear. Results showed that infants hear more spoken language than music, with the gap widening as the babies get … Read More
Q&A: UW research shows neural connection between learning a second language and learning to code
I-LABS faculty member Chantel Prat and her graduate student Iris Kuo are featured in this UW News Q&A feature. Their work concerns how the brains of adults, who have varying skill levels in computer programming, read lines of code in a computer programming language. The brain’s response to viewing errors in both the syntax (form) and semantics (meaning) of code appeared identical … Read More
What babies think: Meltzoff interviewed in Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German newsmagazine that is published weekly. It is one of the most widely circulated magazines in Germany, and throughout Europe. In a recently-published story called “What Babies Think”, I-LABS co-Director Andrew Meltzoff was quoted about the cognitive skills that infants and children exhibit, and how these are studied in a research lab. The story was published on March … Read More
Neva Corrigan interviewed for New Scientist magazine
New Scientist interview on study showing adolescent brains changed in unexpected ways during Covid-19 lockdown Dr. Neva Corrigan was the lead author on new research about the structural changes in adolescent brains pre- and post-pandemic. As reported in the popular science magazine New Scientist (Jan. 2024), the data showed that cortical thickness in teenagers, following the pandemic, was abnormally reduced across widespread areas … Read More
Reducing the gender gap in computer science
Very early in elementary school, boys and girls have equal interest in learning skills used for coding, and confidence in those lessons. A shift in girls’ interest in computer coding and decrease in their confidence to learn starts around third grade.However, boys’ interest and confidence continue to grow over the years. Dr. Allison Master (now at the University of Houston) with … Read More
COVID-19 prematurely accelerated brain maturation in adolescents
The COVID-19 pandemic produced dramatic changes in the daily lives of adolescents, and these changes were particularly detrimental for teens’ academic, social, and emotional development. Using brain measures (Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI), Patricia Kuhl, along with colleagues Neva Corrigan and Ariel Rokem, studied the structure of the brain in teens ranging in age from 9 to 20 years, before and after the pandemic. They … Read More