A joint laboratory established by National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and US-based Haskins Laboratories was inaugurated in Taipei yesterday, with academics from the two sides set to work together on the learning mechanism of infants.
A delegation led by Kenneth Pugh, president and director of research at Haskins Laboratories, signed a memorandum of understanding with NTNU a day earlier to establish the NTNU-Haskins Joint Laboratory of Brain Development and Learning.
NTNU chair professor Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗), a Haskins Laboratories board member since 2015, told a press conference that one of the institute’s current focuses is the use of functional near-
infrared spectroscopy systems in the research of language and reading development in infants.
The system is a non-invasive optical imaging technique that measures changes in hemoglobin concentrations within the brain by means of the characteristic absorption spectra of hemoglobin in the near-infrared range.
Human learning capability peaks in infancy, Haskins Laboratories senior researcher Richard Aslin said.
Aslin said he discovered years ago that infants have the ability to rapidly extract rules hidden in information, adding that this ability is perfect for learning languages.
Aslin is working with NTNU on a research project with six-month-old Taiwanese as subjects.
The project aims to study the learning mechanism in the human brain as it relates to cross-sense stimulus links and prediction, he said.
Initial research shows that six-month-olds can learn the connection between objects and sounds within one minute, said Aslin, who described babies as super-powerful learning machines.
The NTNU-Haskins joint laboratory will continue to explore the early physical signs of infants’ cognitive ability and to determine methods that can help children who suffer from autism and language development disorders, he said.
Founded in 1935, Haskins Laboratories is a private, non-profit research institute with a primary focus on speech, language and reading, and their biological basis.
The New Haven, Connecticut-based lab has long-standing, formal affiliations with the University of Connecticut and Yale University, NTNU said.
The university introduced Pugh to reporters as one of the scientists who initiated the application of functional magnetic resonance imaging to the research of reading and reading disabilities.
Pugh has also undertaken a lot of research in the areas of cognitive neurology and psycholinguistics, NTNU said.
Accompanying Pugh on his visit to Taiwan are Joseph Cardone, vice president of finance at Haskins Laboratories, and Heikki Lyytinen, a professor at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland and chair of Inclusive Literacy Learning for UNESCO.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS