Researcher receives $1.25M grant to unlock ‘magic’ behind babies, language
Elika Bergelson, a newly-appointed research assistant professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, focuses on understanding how babies learn words between 6-to 18-months old. Funding from the NIH recognizes Bergelson as one of the nation’s “exceptional early career scientist” and will help her pathbreaking work advance more quickly.
Monkeys also believe in winning streaks, study shows
Humans have a well-documented tendency to see winning and losing streaks in situations that, in fact, are random. Now in the first study in non-human primates of this systematic error in decision making, researchers find that monkeys also share our unfounded belief in lucky streaks.
When it comes to learning numbers, culture counts
The findings of a new study suggest that number learning is a fundamental process that follows a universal pathway. However, the timing of the process depends on a child’s environment.
Richard Aslin inducted into the National Academy of Sciences
Aslin joined 83 inductees at the ceremony in April to become an official member of the academy—one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the United States
‘Seeing’ in the Dark
The eerie ability to see our hand in the dark suggests that the brain combines information from different senses to create perceptions.
What’s Your Motion Quotient
A surprisingly simple exercise measures the brain’s unconscious ability to filter out visual movement, and points to an unexpected link between IQ and motion filtering
Autistic Kids Detect Motion Faster
Such heightened sensory perception in autism may help explain why some people with the disorder are painfully sensitive to noise and bright lights.
Making Sense of Monkey Math
The study tracked eight olive baboons, ages 4 to 14, in 54 separate trials of guess-which-cup-has-the-most-treats.
Aslin Elected to National Academy of Sciences
Richard Aslin, the William R. Kenan Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and director of the Rochester Center for Brain Imaging at the University of Rochester, has been elected a…
Your Brain on Big Bird
Using brain scans of children and adults watching Sesame Street, cognitive scientists are learning how children’s brains change as they develop intellectual abilities like reading and math.