I-LABS faculty member Adrian KC Lee and his colleague Emily Fox (Statistics, Computer Science & Engineering) have been awarded an NSF Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS) grant, inspired by work supported by a joint postdoctoral fellowship. The grant, “Modeling of Interacting Time Series to Discover Cortical Networks Associated with Auditory Processing Dysfunction”, grew out of the research of UWIN … Read More
UW Perspectives features 3 I-LABS brain scientists
The August issue of UW Perspectives was focused on brain research. Not surprisingly, three I-LABS faculty members’ research was featured in the issue: Jason Yeatman’s work on the roots of dyslexia, and Andrea Stocco and Chantel Prat’s pioneering brain-to-brain communication research. Read the issue of Perspectives here.
Feeling included in a group increases preschoolers’ engagement in STEM
Early education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics, as they’re known, is critical for boosting later success in school and attracting students to occupations in those fields. But little has been done to optimize STEM curriculum for preschoolers or help children seek out and enjoy STEM tasks. New research from I-LABS explores the social cues important for increasing … Read More
Predicting rate of second language learning
New research shows that brain ‘resting state’ is predictive of how easily adults can pick up a second language. Is there a way to predict the aptitude for second language learning by adults? Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) graduate student Brianna Yamasaki explains a new study designed to answer this question. Yamasaki and colleagues measured brain activity from … Read More
Ask I-LABS Outreach: Finding Surprising Moments to Read to Kids
How can busy parents fit enriching, brain-building moments that come from reading to children into an already packed schedule? One parent talks about how she made reading to her daughter part of her routine. My enthusiasm for reading goes back a long way. My father likes to tell the story of how I used to toddle up to him as a young … Read More
Andrew Meltzoff Receives Koffka Medal from Germany for ‘Extraordinary’ Work
Andrew Meltzoff, the Job and Gertrud Tamaki Endowed Chair and co-director of the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, has been awarded the Kurt Koffka Medal. Bestowed each year by Giessen University in Germany, the award honors scientists who “advanced the fields of perception or developmental psychology to an extraordinary extent.” Meltzoff received the award during a ceremony at Giessen … Read More
Success in Second Language Learning Linked to Genetic and Brain Measures
A new I-LABS study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrates a relationship between genes, the brain and human learning. The study, published the week of June 13, 2016, shows that the final grades that college students received in a second-language class were predicted by a combination of genetic and brain factors. Variations in the gene … Read More
World Science Festival Features ‘Brain-to-Brain’ Research
Chantel Prat and Andrea Stocco, faculty researchers at I-LABS, will speak on their breakthroughs in brain-to-brain communication at the 2016 World Science Festival. With collaborators in computer science, Prat and Stocco’s brain-to-brain project has garnered headlines around the world as a leader in discovering how to use technology to help two human brains exchange information directly. The team’s latest achievement, published … Read More
Brain Pattern Predicts How Well an Adult Learns a New Language
Learning a new language is one thing that most babies can do better than adults, which makes language learning an excellent example of changes in neural plasticity across the lifespan. Despite this, some adults are better able to learn second languages than others, and researchers at the University of Washington have found that their secret may involve the rhythms of … Read More
Music Improves Baby Brain Responses to Music and Speech
New I-LABS findings reveal that a musical intervention helped babies learn to detect rhythmic patterns, a skill important for both music and speech. The study, published the week of April 25 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that a series of play sessions with music improved 9-month-old babies’ brain processing of both music and new speech … Read More