Bashar M. Farran

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show reduced comprehension of gestures during communication, suggesting atypical neural mechanisms underlying gesture–spoken language integration. The present study used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate the neural bases of gesture and spoken language processing in children with ASD, with a focus on the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), key regions implicated in multimodal language integration. Twenty-four children aged 5–10 years (12 ASD, 12 typically developing [TD]) completed a gesture–spoken language categorization task comprising congruent gesture + spoken language, incongruent gesture + spoken language, gesture-only, and spoken language-only conditions. Neuroimaging results revealed robust condition-dependent modulation of oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) responses in TD children, with a graded pattern reflecting increasing multimodal integration demands (incongruent > congruent > unimodal), formally confirmed by a significant linear trend contrast. Additionally, total hemoglobin (HbT) responses in TD children followed a similar pattern in the left IFG. In contrast, children with ASD exhibited globally attenuated task-evoked HbO responses and significantly reduced multimodal enhancement relative to TD peers, with a formal Group × Contrast interaction confirming that ASD children showed markedly less neural differentiation between multimodal and unimodal conditions. An initial channel-wise analysis suggested a numerically broader activation footprint in ASD under uncorrected thresholds, though this did not survive false discovery correction. Within the ASD group, reduced deoxygenated hemoglobin (HbR) responses during incongruent gesture–spoken language trials were associated with lower accuracy on social communication measures, reflecting reduced social communication performance. These findings provide evidence that children with ASD show atypical neural sensitivity to multimodal audiovisual input, characterized by reduced multimodal enhancement and globally attenuated hemodynamic responses during gesture–spoken language integration.

Gestures are movements we make with our hands and bodies to help us talk and share ideas. This article explains how gestures can make it easier for people to understand and remember concepts. We discuss how gestures can help kids both with and without autism communicate better, especially when finding the right words is tough. Gestures can also make learning new languages more fun and easier by showing how words sound and what they mean. Different types of gestures can make conversation and learning clearer and more exciting. This article shows why using gestures is a smart way to teach and talk with others.

Music and sounds evoke a wide range of emotions and activate numerous psychological and physiological effects. Since emotions involve the autonomic nervous system (ANS) associated with the maintenance of homeostasis, they play an important role in supporting human wellbeing. The aim of the present study is to further validate the mechanisms underlying the relationship between sound, emotions and homeostasis. To this end, the effects of spatial sound projection of two different singing bowls with fundamental frequencies at 73 Hz and 110 Hz were investigated by monitoring behavioural and emotional response in healthy subjects. Overall, we find that the spatial projection of singing bowl sounds elicits a highly significant increase in positive emotions. Exposure to both frequencies resulted in a significant improvement in emotional wellbeing and a significant reduction in negative emotions. We demonstrate frequencydependent effects indicating a shift in arousal, where 73 Hz elicits feeling more wide awake while 110 Hz elicits sleepiness. These results indicate that non-invasive interventions, such as sound immersion with singing bowls, are effective means in restoring and maintaining homeostasis and underline the need for further research on the effect of discrete frequencies on human psychology and physiology, opening new perspectives on potential treatment of various disorders and conditions.

Music and sounds activate numerous physiological effects associated with the functioning of the autonomic nervous system and involved in the maintenance of homeostasis. As such, sound interventions can play an important role in supporting human wellbeing. Physiological responses are dependent on the sound type and frequency, as well as the spatial conditions and the presence of the subject in the acoustic environment. To arrive at a more articulate understanding of these dependencies, response of subjects (n=44) to sound reproduction of two different singing bowls with fundamental frequencies at 73 Hz and 110 Hz in spatial projection of nine different geometric shapes were monitored by acoustic and physiological measurement. Contrary to other studies, we find no discrete effects related to the sound type or frequency. Observed effects indicating focused attention, relaxation and improved homeostasis were consistently dependent on the combination of sound frequency and spatial condition. Notably, we observe that the 73 Hz stimulus induced significant changes in the Gamma band of Electroencephalography (EEG) in projection of a Tetrahedron and Cube, while the 110 Hz stimulus induced significant changes in the Theta and Beta bands for the same shapes. Discrete effects of spatial shapes were observed in the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) of subjects. Arousal was significantly decreased during projection of a Cube, Icosahedron and Dodecahedron and significantly increased during Pyramid, Tetrahedron and Sphere, regardless of the frequency. Discrete effects of stimulus duration were observed in GSR and Electromyography (EMG) of subjects, regardless of the frequency and spatial condition. Arousal and muscle tension were significantly increased during the first 15 minutes and decreased until 40 minutes of exposure. We observe highly significant deviations in projected sound waves in the presence of a subject. The localized amplitude difference of sound waves was highly correlated to localization and power of significant changes in brain activity of subjects, while the phase shift of sound wave frequency was predictive of the frequency of brain activity. Significant expressions of Heart Rate (HR) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) of subjects were highly correlated to the mean, variability and standard deviation of amplitude difference and phase shift of the fundamental frequency and the average across frequencies. We present a model in the form of a transfer function that accurately predicts various physiological expressions in response to sound stimuli on the basis of observed sound wave deviations. We discuss the benefits of such a model and the future work necessary to develop the model to its full predictive capacity.

The effects of sound and mechanical vibrations on blood flow and in vitro and in vivo blood cells were previously reported in various studies. Frequency-based stimulation and sound vibrations were shown to have a positive effect on peripheral blood flow, blood aggregation, Red Blood Cells longevity and enhanced release of Nitric Oxide which supports improved blood oxygenation. Different frequencies were also reported to have discrete effects on cells and physiological mechanisms. In this preliminary study, we investigated the effect of 20 minutes exposure to audible sound stimuli comprising recordings of spatial sound projections of a singing bowl at 40 Hz and 73 Hz compared to 20 minutes silence in a Faraday cage (control) on in vitro Red Blood Cells and White Blood Cells. We find that the sound stimuli have a highly significant effect on the longevity of both Red and White Blood Cells with a differentiation in effect across frequencies and projections compared to control. Results could indicate a cost-effective treatment to support improved soundness of blood transfusions as well as non-invasive interventions to increase circulating blood cells.

Sound waves are known to be affected by the presence of a human subject in the acoustic environment. Deviations in sound waves are dependent on the position, posture and body mass of the subject, and show consistent variance dependent on the subject and the sound stimulus. To arrive at a better understanding of the nature of this dependency, deviations in sound waves in the presence of a human subject were measured in an acoustic test environment, in conjunction with measurements reporting the physiological and psychological state of subjects in response to a sound stimulus projected in three different room sizes. We find that the absorption or amplification of sound waves in response to the subject is directly proportional to the amplitude of brain activity of the subject, where the amplification of both sound waves and brain activity is associated with an increase in positive valence and decrease in negative valence experienced by the subject. Increased Theta activity corresponded to a strong increase in harmonic power of low sound frequencies in the medium room size, while increased Gamma activity observed in the right parietal lobe indicates an enhanced spatial perception of subjects in this projection. We discuss the potential of these findings for future research and applications.

Sound reproduction is the electro-mechanical re-creation of sound waves using analogue and digital audio equipment. Although identical reproduction of a sound is implied to be acoustically identical, numerous fixed and variable conditions are affecting the acoustic result. To arrive at a better understanding of the causes and the extent of deviations in sound reproduction, differences in the amplitude, phase and frequency of a sound signal at various stages in the process of reproduction were measured and compared under a set of controlled conditions, one of them being the presence of a human subject in the acoustic environment. Deviations in acoustic reproduction were found to be significantly smaller than ± 0.1 dB amplitude and ± 1 degree phase shift when comparing trials recorded on the same day. Deviations significantly increased greater than 5 times the amplitude and 6 times the phase shift when comparing trials recorded on different days. Deviations further increased significantly with greater than 59 times the amplitude and 32 times the phase shift with a human subject present in the acoustic environment. For the first time, it was shown that the human body does not always absorb, but can also amplify sound energy. The degree of either absorption or amplification per frequency shows consistent variance in response to the subject and changes in the stimulus, indicating a non-linear relationship between the observed deviations and the presence of the human subject. The findings of the present study may serve as a reference for acoustic standards and corrective methods improving the accuracy and predictability of sound reproduction and its applications in measurement, diagnostics and therapeutic methods.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the risks in confronting the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the ongoing lockdown effectiveness in each of Italy, Germany, Spain, France, and the United States using China’s lockdown model simulation, and cases forecast until the plateau phase.Methods: Quantitative and qualitative historical data analysis. Total Risk Assessment (TRA) evaluation tool was used to assess the pre-pandemic stage risks, pandemic threshold fast responsiveness, and the ongoing performance until plateau. The Infected Patient Ratio (IPR) tool was developed to measure the number of patients resulting from 1 infector during the incubation period. Both IPR and TRA were used together to forecast inflection points, plateau phases, intensive care units’ and ventilators’ breakpoints, and the Total Fatality Ratio.Results: In Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the United States, an inflection point is predicted within the first 15 d of April, to arrive at a plateau after another 30 to 80 d. Variations in IPR drop are expected due to variations in lockdown timing by each country, the extent of adherence to it, and the number of performed tests in each.Conclusions: Both qualitative (TRA) and quantitative (IPR) tools can be used together for assessing and minimizing the pandemic risks and for more precise forecasting.