Category Biology/Biotechnology

Especially persons with lesions in certain areas of the right posterior temporal lobe experienced difficulties recognizing voices. The MPI scientists assume that the posterior superior temporal gyrus, the STG, is crucial for voice recognition. © MPI CBS

Amazon recently announced that its language assistant Alexa is now able to recognise voices. What is celebrated as a tech revolution is an everyday process for our brain. So far, it has been unclear as to which areas of the brain we use to differentiate voices. The Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences has just uncovered new findings: Our personal assistant for voice recognition uses a convolution in the right temporal lobe.

We regularly find ourselves in situations in which we talk to others...

Comparing of the cascaded GHz approach with Kinect-style approaches visually represented on a key. From left to right, the original image, a Kinect-style approach, a GHz approach, and a stronger GHz approach. Credit: Courtesy of the researchers

Computational method improves resolution of time-of-flight depth sensors 1,000-fold. For the past 10 years, the Camera Culture group at MIT’s Media Lab has been developing innovative imaging systems – from a camera that can see around corners to one that can read text in closed books – by using “time of flight,” an approach that gauges distance by measuring the time it takes light projected into a scene to bounce back to a sensor.

In a new paper appearing in IEEE Access, members of the Camera Culture group present a new approach to time-of-flight im...

A visualization of the changes to the colon and the gut bacteria after eating a low-fiber, Western-type diet and then subsequently eating a diet supplemented with fiber. Credit: Shroeder, et al.

Anyone watching their waistline this holiday season may want to pay attention to what their gut bacteria are eating. It’s not just calories that matter in a healthy diet – it’s fiber that resists digestion by the body but is readily eaten by bacteria in the gut. The amount of fiber in someone’s diet can influence weight gain, blood sugar, insulin sensitivity, and colon health. Two studies with mice, publishing December 21 in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, help shed light on how and why fiber has such a powerful effect on the entire body.

“Once the mechanism is understood, it can be exploited in d...

Top alternatives to mean proteins

Health benefits could be even greater if people combined plant proteins with other cholesterol-lowering foods. Substituting 1 to 2 servings of animal proteins with plant proteins every day could lead to a small reduction in the 3 main cholesterol markers for cardiovascular disease prevention, a new study suggests. The health benefits could be even greater if people combined plant proteins with other cholesterol-lowering foods such as viscous, water soluble fibres from oats, barley and psyllium, and plant sterols, said lead author Dr. John Sievenpiper of St. Michael’s Hospital.

Dr...