Sound symbolism refers to a non-arbitrary relationship between linguistic sounds and meanings. Sound symbolism has been discussed in relation to the ontogenesis of language. Our previous ERP study revealed that preverbal infants who are just about to start word learning show the N400 response to sound symbolically mismatched speech sound-visual shape pairs, suggesting that the infants detected ...

Motion-sensing technology enables dancers to control various computer processes that can alter their own projected video images and generate sound. In turn the altered images and the sonic results influence choreographic decisions and kinesthetic response. This creates a dynamic three-way interaction that opens up new possibilities to explore the body as an agent for technological transformatio...

From physiology we learn that the auditory system extracts simultaneous features from the underlying signal, giving birth to simultaneous representations of audible signals. We also learn that pattern analysis and recognition are not separated processes (in opposition to the engineering approach of pattern recognition where analysis and recognition are usually separated processes). Furthermore,...

Research has shown that if two frequencies differing in 30Hz or less are presented in each ear, the brain will process these frequencies as an entirely separate third tone. This third frequency, or binaural beat, can stimulate production of brain waves if created in the correct frequency range. This study recruited 38 participants to determine if binaural beats in the beta range can increase at...

It aims at targeting the multifaceted area of research devoted to the complex relation between environment and sound, a relation that still needs to be investigated. Indeed, we are literally immersed into sound: as Handel says, " Listening puts me in the world " ([1], xi). In this sense, a phenomenology of listening, delving deeply into the philosophical and psychological aspects of sound perce...

Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and its variants have been the standard solution to sequential data processing tasks because of their ability to preserve previous information weighted on distance. This feature provides the LSTM family with additional information in predictions, compared to regular Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) and Bag-of-Words (BOW) models. In other words, LSTM networks assume...

Ear modeling can significantly improve sound signal processing and the design of hearing devices. Ear models based on mechanics and neural phenomenology of the inner ear (cochlea) form a class of nonlinear nonlocal dispersive partial differential equations (PDEs). These PDEs capture the essential nonlinear phenomena in hearing, such as combination frequency generation, compression, and suppress...

Digital audio effects using phase vocoder techniques are currently in widespread use. However, their interfaces often hide vital parameters from the user. This fact, and the generally limited ways in which sound designing and compositional tools can represent sounds and their spectral content, complicates the effective use of the full potential of modern effect processing algorithms. This artic...

News and Events Elite Graduate Program " Neurosciences " – Bernstein Centers at the " Germany in Japan " Initiative – Bernstein Award 2006 – Upcoming Events BCCN Newsletter Scientists at the BCCN develop a procedure to evaluate algorithms that predict epileptic seizures Epilepsy is a widespread neurological disease that is characterized by the spontaneous and hitherto unpredictable incidence of...