Lemmingworks

Brain waves show sound processing abnormalities in autistic children

Abnormalities in auditory and language processing may be evaluated in children with autism spectrum disorder by using magnetoencephalography (MEG), according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

“Using MEG, we can record the tiny magnetic fields associated with electrical brain activity,” said Timothy Roberts, Ph.D., vice chair of research in the Department of Radiology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Recorded brain waves change with every sensation, thought and activity. It’s like watching a movie of the brain in real time.”

The findings showed that in the children with autism there was a fraction of a second delay in the brain’s response while processing the rapid succession sounds and the unusual streams, giving researchers an insight into the dysfunction of the auditory processing system in autistic children.

“This delay in processing certain types and streams of sound may underpin the subsequent language processing and communication impairment seen in autistic children,” Dr. Roberts said.

Autism study finds slight delay in sound processing adds:

Unique brain wave patterns, spotted for the first time in autistic children, may help explain why they have so much trouble communicating.

Using an imaging helmet that resembles a big salon hair dryer, researchers discovered what they believe are “signatures of autism” that show a delay in processing individual sounds.

That delay is only a fraction of a second, but when it’s for every sound, the lag time can cascade into a major obstacle in speaking and understanding people, the researchers said.

Imagine if it took a tiny bit longer than normal to understand each syllable. By the end of a whole sentence, you’d be pretty confused.

In autistic children, response to each sound was delayed by one-fiftieth of a second.

“We tend to speak at four syllables per second,” said Timothy Roberts, the study’s lead author and the hospital’s vice chairman of research. If an autistic brain “is slow in processing a change in a syllable . . . it could easily get to the point of being overloaded.”

Very interesting. I want one of those!

you thought we wouldn’t notice » Blog Archive » Rosamond the Strange… Rochelle told me that jeremy should have told me about this. I’m a fan of emily strange, cause my little sister’s name is emily. Well it seems like a case of plagiarism… something that’s all too familiar to me.

shirley niemans » Blog Archive » Forthcoming by Alex Halavais: Search Engine Society

Search Engine Society is the name of Alex Halavais‘ forthcoming book, due to be published by Polity in October 2008, as part of the Digital Media and Society series. Halavais is assistant professor of interactive communications at Quinnipiac University (USA), a ’social architect’, and blogs about politics, culture, teaching and research at a thaumaturgical compendium. With his book, Halavais aims to unpack the black box of the search engine, in order to counter a host of assumptions underlying both technological developments and the way we use search engines to make sense of the networked world.

Alex is wise and funny, and has a dog named finnegan and a baby name Jasper, which is what my brother used to call me. So buy the book.

Famous Monsters » Literature Review: Bram Stoker’s Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition is a wonderful review of Elizabeth’s new publication. You should read it, and get the book!

To be honest, I have to tell you first that to me Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the Holy Bible of Horror Fiction. In fact the only book that has been in print longer and sold more copies is the Bible itself. I have read Dracula too many times to remember and I own about twenty versions of it in hardcover, paperback, graphic novel etc. I didn’t think anything could compare to this timeless story until I received my review copy of Bram Stoker’s Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition in the mail.

My hands were literally shaking as I read through the pages and saw the photos of Bram’s handwritten notes. With the novel right beside me I went back and forth between the two books, comparing, researching and just having a hell of a time putting myself in Bram’s shoes so to speak. It was a wondrous experience that I will never ever forget.
The Holy Grail has been found and we all have a chance to drink from it.

Jeremy says Processing 1.0 is out. And indeed it is. That said, I have no idea what it is… yet. But you can be sure… if Jeremy says it is out, and tells me, he’s got some idea that he can get me tangled up in no good for his own mirth and glee. Works for me.

I’m starting to think about my winter course, children and technology, and yuka showed me this, which just got me more off topic:

YouTube - “Computer Friends” [Stack the Memory] by Sniper Twins feat. Rob Collier

Children’s Book Bank looks like a cool place. I have to go visit, and drop off some books. I like the idea of giving away free books to children.

The Children’s Book Bank is a charitable organization designed to support children’s literacy by providing free books and literacy support to children in lower income neighbourhoods.

The Children’s Book Bank presently operates one location at 350 Berkeley Street in Toronto, and offers a range of gently used and new books secured through donation, school and community book drives. Staffed by volunteers and working within the community, The Children’s Book Bank focuses on the literacy needs of children aged 2-12 and works to support and develop each child’s interest in and success with reading. In addition to providing books, The Children’s Book Bank offers literacy support and programming.

A visit to The Children’s Book Bank is much like a visit to a familiar and well loved children’s book store. The space is safe, warm and inviting and is intended to create a wonderful oasis for the children; a place where they can relax and experience the magic of books and enjoy reading.

Don Norman’s cool. I would like to see government support for bringing novel and useful designs to market, though. To often you only see cool things, but no one can afford them.

Designers challenged to include disabled - CNN.com

The future of design could see the divide between able-bodied and disabled people vanish.
Don Norman , design Professor at Northwestern University in Illinois, and the author of The Design of Future Things, is issuing a challenge to designers and engineers across the world: Create things that work for everyone.
“It is about time we designed things that can be used by ALL people — which is the notion behind accessible design. Designing for people with disabilities almost always leads to products that work better for everyone.”
Once the champion of human-centered design — where wants and needs of individuals are the primary consideration in the design process, Norman now believes accessible activity-centered design is a better approach.
This approach creates designs by looking at the job a person needs to achieve in using a particular technology.
Norman told CNN that including disabled people in this thought process would create better technologies for all people, regardless of their level of ability.
“Make cans and bottles that a one-handed person can open and guess what, many people will find it makes their lives easier when they only have one free hand.
“Showers and baths can be made better and safer for all. Make things better for the hard of hearing or seeing and guess what, similar benefits for all,” he said..

I’m not a big investor, so perhaps I’m the last one to know about the VIX, aka The Fear Index.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia says:

Although the VIX is often called the “fear index,” a high VIX is not necessarily bearish for stocks. Instead, the VIX is a measure of fear of volatility in either direction, including to the upside. In practical terms, when investors anticipate large upside volatility, they are unwilling to sell upside “call” stock options unless they receive a large premium. Option buyers will be willing to pay such high premiums only if similarly anticipating a large upside move. The resulting aggregate of increases in upside stock option “call” prices raises the VIX just as does the aggregate growth in downside stock “put” option premiums that occurs when option buyers and sellers anticipate a likely sharp move to the downside. When the market is believed as likely to soar as to plummet, writing any option that will cost the writer in the event of a sudden large move in either direction may look equally risky. Hence high VIX readings mean investors see significant risk that the market will move sharply, whether downward or upward. The highest VIX readings occur when investors anticipate that huge moves in either direction are likely. Only when investors perceive neither significant downside risk nor significant upside potential will the VIX be low.

I think the world would be a much better place if we didn’t base our economies on fear wrapped up in alchemical logical structures and emotional triggers. Freemarket seems to mean FreePanicMarket economics. Good stocks fall with bad ones, bad ones rise with good ones. Why? Because there’s movement based on factors and forces that have little or no bearing on what the company is actually doing. Why would people trust their future to such a system? Like I said, I have some stocks, but certainly not enough that would represent my future savings. I like to play, but I’m not suicidal.

Slashdot | McDonalds Files To Patent Making a Sandwich

“McDonalds has applied for patent WO2006068865, which carries the title ‘METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING A SANDWICH.’ John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, can eat his heart out (unless that’s been patented, too). Undoubtedly, some people are contemplating whether there’s anything novel in this patent that is somehow obscured by its generic title. Feel free to examine their flowchart for yourself and see exactly how novel their sandwich ’subroutines’ are. The good news is that, given that it only mentions generic sandwich making ‘tool(s),’ rather than any specific machine, it might not survive after the In Re Bilski decision, which was meant to put a stop to absurdities such as this. But until McDonalds’s application is rejected or invalidated, make sure you don’t use their flowchart when making sandwiches. After all, if you ‘apply appropriate condiments to appropriate compartment,’ you might infringe upon their IP.”

Here’s the patent intro info: (WO/2006/068865) METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING A SANDWICH

Applicant: MCDONALD’S CORPORATION [US/US]; McDonald’s Plaza, Oak Brook, IL 60521 (US) (All Except US).
Inventors: PROPER, Kathryn, V.; 530 N. Lake Shore Drive, Unit 1807, Chicago, IL 60611 (US).
EWALD, Henry, T.; 338 Jennifer Lane, Roselle, IL 60172 (US).
SIMMONS, Paul, G.; 22W400 McCarron Road, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 (US).
Agent: RYNDAK, James, D.; Ryndak & Suri LLP, 200 W. Madison Street, Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60606 (US).
Priority Data:
11/018,989 21.12.2004 US
Title: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING A SANDWICH
Abstract:
The present invention relates to a sandwich assembly tool and methods of making a sandwich, which may be a hot or cold sandwich, quickly by pre-assembly of various sandwich components and simultaneous preparation of different parts of the same sandwich. The sandwich assembly tool is composed of a member preferably having one or two cavities for containing a quantity of garnish. The cavities are used for the assembly of the sandwich. The tool may have a raised ridge adjacent one or both cavities for placement against the hinge of a bread component. Methods of making a sandwich] are disclosed. The methods may include one or more of the use of preasseribled sandwich fillings, assembly of garnishes in advance of a customer’s order or while ether portions of the sandwich are being heated using the sandwich assembly tool, the simultaneous heating of a bread component and the sandwich filling, placing the bread component over the tool containing garnish, and inverting the tool and bread combination to deposit the sandwich garnish onto the bread component.

The Guardian has a really interesting article on this.