Tag Archives: perception

Barrow Scientists Discover Ways to Optimize Light Sources for Vision

Posted on by

Discovery could lead to billions of dollars in energy savings

Vision researchers at Barrow Neurological Institute have made a groundbreaking discovery into the optimization of light sources to human vision. By tuning lighting devices to work more efficiently with the human brain the researchers believe billions of dollars in energy costs could be saved.

The research was conducted by Continue reading →

How to Get Off Painkillers

Posted on by
Reply

Getting off painkillers is not easy for anyone who suffers chronic pain. But while giving up these drugs can give you a significantly better quality of life, to successfully leave these drugs behind, you need a definitive plan and a concrete strategy.

Chronic Pain

From headaches to arthritis to back pain, chronically recurring pain is all too real for those who suffer.

However, many people’s chronic pain has no clear cause. Chronic pain is a complex puzzle. Myriad thoughts and feelings contribute to pain perception. Psychological factors complicate the situation. And the thoughts and feelings associated  Continue reading →

Soothing Chronic Pain with Meditation is Best

Posted on by
Reply

Chronic pain is estimated to affect over 76 million people, more than diabetes and heart disease combined, and back pain is our country’s leading cause of disability for people under 45. And though the pharmaceutical industry seems very adept at introducing one new painkiller after another, the pills don’t always help. A new study in the Journal of Neuroscience, however, suggests something else might: meditation. It seems that improving your meditation technique could very well be more effective than painkillers at cutting down on pain, and that could save you hundreds in prescription drug costs.

The details: This was a small study that looked at just 15 adults who sat through four 20-minute training sessions on mindfulness meditation. However, before and after the training, the participants’ brains were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Continue reading →

Perception of Telemedicine Trade

Posted on by
Reply

Improvements in communication and information technologies have allowed for the globalization of health services, especially the provision of health services from other countries, such as the use of telemedicine. This has led countries to evaluate their position on whether and to what extent they should open their health systems to trade.

This often takes place from the context of multi-lateral trade agreements (under the auspices of the World Trade Organization), which is misplaced as a significant amount of trade takes place regionally or bi-laterally. We report here the results of a qualitative study assessing stakeholders ‘views on the potential for a bi-lateral trade relationship between India  Continue reading →

Skin Helps Your Ears to Listen

Posted on by
14

People can “hear” not only with their ears, but also with their skin, new research shows.

In fact, sensations on the skin designed to mimic certain types of speech actually helped people decipher sounds better, the Canadian scientists found.

“We have never been able to show whether we could use tactile information in this way,” said Bryan Gick, co-author of a letter to the editor in Nature.

At this point, the research has more implications for basic science, for “how perception works,” explained Gick, an associate professor of linguistics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. “We’re picking up on this information, and integrating it seamlessly [in the brain].”

But, he added, “once we understand the mechanics, it’s much easier to see how applications could grow out of it. Perhaps we could design a perceptual aid [for people with hearing impairments] or special headphones for pilots to distinguish sounds and noises.”

Senses ‘merge’ to interpret sight, sound

Scientists already knew that visual cues — looking at a person’s face or lips, for instance — can help someone figure out what that person is saying, but little research has looked into the tactile side of things.

Traditional thought held that one hears with the ears and sees with the eyes, with each of these perceptions linked to a separate part of the brain.

More recent research, however, has suggested that the senses merge when interpreting sights or sounds. “The brain doesn’t care where the information comes from,” Gick said. “It picks up from different senses.”

If sight and sound don’t match, for example, what you’re seeing can actually override what you’re hearing.
“People would report having heard what the eyes tell me,” Gick said.

How the study was done

These researchers designed their study around the fact that language includes both aspirated sounds such as “pa” and “ta,” which involve air coming through the mouth, and unaspirated sounds such as “ba” or “da,” which don’t involve this expulsion of air.

Small puffs of air were delivered through vinyl tubing to the skin and neck of 66 volunteers. When the unaspirated sounds “ba” and “da” were paired with a puff of air (mimicking an aspirated sound), the participants thought the sounds were actually “pa” and “ta.”

“The nature of tactile stimulation can influence the actual part of speech you can perceive,” said Robert Frisina Jr., associate chair of otolaryngology at the University of Rochester Medical Centre, in Rochester, NY. “People with hearing impairments could have significant improvement when they’re provided with tactile cues,” he noted.

“The findings are pretty novel and provocative. You wouldn’t expect that kind of [difference] from a little puff of air,” Frisina added. “The areas of the brain for touch and for hearing are connected. Neurologically, it does make sense.”

“Individuals are really picking up on certain clues that we may not necessarily be aware of,” said Dr Thomas Brammeier, director of the Hearing and Balance Enter at Scott & White in Temple, Texas.

Your Skin Helps Your Ears to Listen

Posted on by
4

People can “hear” not only with their ears, but also with their skin, new research shows.

In fact, sensations on the skin designed to mimic certain types of speech actually helped people decipher sounds better, the Canadian scientists found.

“We have never been able to show whether we could use tactile information in this way,” said Bryan Gick, co-author of a letter to the editor in Nature.

At this point, the research has more implications for basic science, for “how perception works,” explained Gick, an associate professor of linguistics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. “We’re picking up on this information, and integrating it seamlessly [in the brain].”

But, he added, “once we understand the mechanics, it’s much easier to see how applications could grow out of it. Perhaps we could design a perceptual aid [for people with hearing impairments] or special headphones for pilots to distinguish sounds and noises.”

Senses ‘merge’ to interpret sight, sound

Scientists already knew that visual cues — looking at a person’s face or lips, for instance — can help someone figure out what that person is saying, but little research has looked into the tactile side of things.

Traditional thought held that one hears with the ears and sees with the eyes, with each of these perceptions linked to a separate part of the brain.

More recent research, however, has suggested that the senses merge when interpreting sights or sounds. “The brain doesn’t care where the information comes from,” Gick said. “It picks up from different senses.”

If sight and sound don’t match, for example, what you’re seeing can actually override what you’re hearing.

“People would report having heard what the eyes tell me,” Gick said.

How the study was done

These researchers designed their study around the fact that language includes both aspirated sounds such as “pa” and “ta,” which involve air coming through the mouth, and unaspirated sounds such as “ba” or “da,” which don’t involve this expulsion of air.

Small puffs of air were delivered through vinyl tubing to the skin and neck of 66 volunteers. When the unaspirated sounds “ba” and “da” were paired with a puff of air (mimicking an aspirated sound), the participants thought the sounds were actually “pa” and “ta.”

“The nature of tactile stimulation can influence the actual part of speech you can perceive,” said Robert Frisina Jr., associate chair of otolaryngology at the University of Rochester Medical Centre, in Rochester, NY. “People with hearing impairments could have significant improvement when they’re provided with tactile cues,” he noted.

“The findings are pretty novel and provocative. You wouldn’t expect that kind of [difference] from a little puff of air,” Frisina added. “The areas of the brain for touch and for hearing are connected. Neurologically, it does make sense.”

“Individuals are really picking up on certain clues that we may not necessarily be aware of,” said Dr Thomas Brammeier, director of the Hearing and Balance Enter at Scott & White in Temple, Texas