Evolution
Mind Your “Fs” and “Vs”: Agriculture May Have Shaped Both Human Jaws and Language
Eating porridge and cheese appears to have changed our bite to enable the vocal tract to produce new sounds
Stories by Anne Pycha
Fitness
Why Click Speech Is Rare
Vocal anatomy may be the reason so few languages use these sounds
Neuroscience
New Simpler Parkinson’s Tests Probe Walking, Talking, Typing
New tests show promise for detecting the neurodegenerative condition earlier
Medicine
New Simpler Parkinson's Tests Probe Walking, Talking, Typing
The new tests show promise for detecting the neurodegenerative condition earlier
Cognition
"R" Is for Red: Common Words Share Similar Sounds in Many Languages
The link between word sounds and meanings may not be arbitrary after all
Fitness
An Auditory Component to Autism
New evidence suggests people with autism can recognize feelings and other traits of humanness in voices as well as—or even better than—neurotypical people do
Neurology
Language Could Diagnose Parkinson's, ALS and Schizophrenia before Lab Tests
Several recent studies reveal what you say—and how you say it—provide clues about disease
Mind & Brain
How to Rhyme Like a Rapper
Hip-hop artists understand what our ears forgive
Mind & Brain
Does an M Sound Round to You?
Research shows that some consonants evoke certain shapes no matter what language you speak
Evolution
Spanish Is Faster Than English, But Mandarin Is Slow
Some languages sound faster than others, but most convey information at the same rate
Mind & Brain
Social Clicks: Sounds Associated with African Languages Are Common in English
Linguists find that tongue clicks play a larger role in English than previously thought
