[By: Aude Carteron]
‘Critical period’, ‘sensitive period’, ‘optimum period’… You may not be familiar with these terms, yet I’m sure you have heard of the idea: for example, an adult will struggle to master a second language while younger children can do so easily. Are there such critical time periods to learn something, say, to play the piano, basketball or synchronised swimming?
[By: Aude Carteron]
Summer wouldn’t be summer without book recommendations, and I wanted to tell you about the refreshing vacation read brought to you by ‘The Laughing Baby’ by Caspar Addyman. Perfect when paired with a deckchair and total sunblock.
You come for the catchy title, you stay for the entertainment of enthralling topics written in a captivating and fluid style. Add to this Caspar’s highly contagious enthusiasm for his field. If the heat is keeping you away from your summer workout goals, the book will at least exercise your cheek muscles through its wit as well as its up-lifting and moving messages.
[By: Aude Carteron]
Infant-directed song (the academic word for lullaby), is a common way to soothe, calm or put babies to sleep. It is found universally across cultures [1].
Babies are little Beethoven-to-be, born with remarkable music perception abilities. A study [2] with neonates revealed that the latter can detect the regularity of beats: recording of their brain activity showed that a particular brain signal was elicited at the time when downbeats were missing.
[By: Aude Carteron]
Do you also find yourself surprised when meeting someone who hates tomatoes or chocolate, and then shrug it off with a ‘well, that’s rare but there’s no accounting for taste’? Some weeks ago I decided to put on an apron and… use my favourite search engine to figure out ‘What makes us like… what we like’, and how it sheds light on why some parenting advice works better than other.
[By: Aude Carteron]
After Saya’s thrilling first post (I strongly advise you to catch up here if you haven’t read it), get on board with me, Aude, born and raised in France. Apart from cheese and croissants, I was fed with an academic blend of Biology, Math, Engineering and Cognitive science, before starting this wonderful adventure in the MOTION project.