by Christine Kenneally BH | Aug 6, 2007 | Infants, Words
Children typically acquire a few words very slowly and then around 2 years of age undergo a ‘word explosion.’ A cognitive scientist at the University of Iowa has built a mathematical model which suggests that this amazing phenomenon is not genetically...
by Christine Kenneally BH | Aug 6, 2007 | Infants, Vowels
Young infants can distinguish subtle contrasts that exist in speech sounds of all languages of all the world. English babies, for example, hear the difference between Zulu clicks, something that untrained English adults are hopeless at. This ability is lost as...
by Christine Kenneally BH | Aug 6, 2007 | Ancient genomics, Neandertals, Prehistoric humans
The difference between the hulking heads of our Neanderthal cousins and our more graceful selves is merely a matter of chance, say scientists in the Journal of Human Evolution. The difference between our skulls and theirs probably results from genetic...
by Christine Kenneally BH | Aug 6, 2007 | Consciousness, Thalamus
In a minimally conscious state, people show a random, intermittent awareness of themselves and their environment. In the August 2 issue of Nature, scientists announced that for the first time they were able to improve the responses of such a patient. Electrical...
by Christine Kenneally BH | Jul 25, 2007 | The First Word
I wrote a short essay, "A path to language," for the good people at Powell’s book store. Checkout Powells.com for all of their excellent author interviews, essays and Q&A’s.
