A new machine understands sounds used for communication: Science helps us understand each other better

Not only humans, but also lots of animals use sounds to communicate, and they understand each other without even using words.

A new machine designed by researchers can understand these sounds, and it helps us to understand how the brain works.

Let's find out more.

A unique machine

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh developed a machine learning model to understand how the brain recognizes communication sounds like animal calls and spoken words. 

Social animals, such as monkeys and guinea pigs, were studied to distinguish between sound categories for mating, food, and danger. 

When you don't even need words to communicate

This study improves our understanding of sound recognition, aiding speech disorders, and enhancing hearing aids. 

The brain's ability to recognize sounds and faces share similarities: identifying key features to form a mental map. 

Guinea pigs completed tasks even with altered sounds, mimicking human speech recognition with different accents. 

Why is it helpful?

Applying this model to humans may help those with speech recognition difficulties.

It can also potentially help humans to communicate better with their pets.
 

• Related news:
• communication
• research
• science
• brain
• 1 July 2023

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