Brain Understands One Voice in Noisy Environments, New Study Finds

Brain examination ( via Getty)
Brain examination ( via Getty)
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Brain Understands One Voice in Noisy Environments, New Study Finds

Brain examination ( via Getty)
Brain examination ( via Getty)

In a crowded room where many people are talking, such as a family birthday party or busy restaurant, our brains have the ability to focus our attention on a single speaker.

Understanding this scenario and how the brain processes stimuli like speech, language, and music has been the research focus of Edmund Lalor, associate professor of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Recently, his lab found a new clue into how the brain is able to unpack this information and intentionally hear one speaker, while weaning out or ignoring a different speaker. The researchers also found brain is actually taking an extra step to understand the words coming from the speaker being listened to, and not taking that step with the other words swirling around the conversation.

"Our findings suggest that the acoustics of both the attended story and the unattended or ignored story are processed similarly. But we found there was a clear distinction between what happened next in the brain,” said Lalor.

For this study, recently published in The Journal of Neuroscience, participants simultaneously listened to two stories, but were asked to focus their attention on only one. Using EEG brainwave recordings, the researchers found the story that participants were instructed to pay attention to was converted into linguistic units known as phonemes, which are units of sound that can distinguish one word from another -- while the other story was not.

"That conversion is the first step towards understanding the attended story. Sounds need to be recognized as corresponding to specific linguistic categories like phonemes and syllables, so that we can ultimately determine what words are being spoken -- even if they sound different -- for example, spoken by people with different accents or different voice pitches," Lalor said.



Saudi Students Compete in 57th International Chemistry Olympiad in Dubai

Saudi Flag / File/Reuters
Saudi Flag / File/Reuters
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Saudi Students Compete in 57th International Chemistry Olympiad in Dubai

Saudi Flag / File/Reuters
Saudi Flag / File/Reuters

Saudi students are participating in the 57th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), the world’s largest high school chemistry competition, currently taking place in Dubai through July 14, bringing together over 300 students from around the world.

The scientific team has finalized the review and translation of the practical exam for the Saudi students, who are preparing to take their first test on Tuesday, SPA reported.

This year, the Kingdom is represented by a team of four male and female students who have undergone thousands of hours of intensive training under the supervision of the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), in strategic partnership with the Ministry of Education.

Saudi Arabia has earned a total of 45 awards in its past participations in IChO, which has been held annually in a different country since its launch in 1968. These include 15 silver medals, 28 bronze medals, and two certificates of appreciation.