The brain is not only able to finish the sentences of others. A study by the Basque research centre BCBL has shown for the first time that it can also anticipate an auditory stimulus and determine the phonemes and specific words the speaker is going to pronounce.

Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, defined consciousness as the greatest unsolved problem in biology. The first major international conference of the Human Brain Project, held recently in Barcelona, has focused on the challenges and advances in its study. We have spoken with the local organizer of the conference.

Dyslexic children learning both a language that is pronounced as written -like Spanish- and a second language in which the same letter can have several sounds -such as English- are less affected by this alteration when reading or writing in the latter language. The authors of the Basque research centre BCBL warn that this is less a cure than a reduction of some of the symptoms.

The Basque research centre BCBL has shown how we can anticipate a word before it is pronounced and thus complete a sentence without the need for the interlocutor to finish it. The experiment has proven that the ability to predict a term is related to the brain's ability to mentally construct sentences as they read or listen to them.

During the hours of sleep the memory performs a cleaning shift. A study led by a Spanish scientist at the University of Cambridge reveals that when we sleep, the neural connections that collect important information are strengthened and those created from irrelevant data are weakened until they get lost.

Breastfeeding is beneficial for all newborns, but it is essential for premature infants or patients, because it improves their prognosis considerably. However, you cannot always count on it. This is where the generosity of women who donate their milk for creatures that are not theirs comes into play. Spain already has 13 centers that in 2016 distributed almost 7,500 liters to 2,281 babies.

Almost 10% of the world population suffers dyslexia. Establishing an early diagnosis would allow the development of training programs to palliate this disorder. We now may be nearer to reaching this goal thanks to a study carried out by the Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), associating auditory processing in children to their reading skills. The results offer a new approach for detecting the risk before the children learn to read.

The rhythms of brainwaves between two people taking part in a conversation begin to match each other. This is the conclusion of a study published in the magazine ‘Scientific Reports’, led by the Basque research centre BCBL. According to scientists, this interbrain synchrony may be a key factor in understanding language and interpersonal communication.