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Dept. of Special Education Designs A8M Digital Learning Tool for Students in Need

October 15th is the White Cane Safety Day, the Day of the Blind. In order to reduce the learning difficulties of blind students in mathematics, Associate Professor Chien-Huey Sophie Chang of the Department of Special Education of NTNU led a team to develop the "A8M Digital Learning Tool" which is convenient for visually impaired students to read and write mathematics. It is easy to use and enables teachers to communicate well with visually impaired students. Users can listen and read repeatedly with a Braille display, which makes it easier to grasp the structure of complex mathematical formulas.

Detecting the size of primordial black holes with superhorizon perturbations

At the onset of the cosmic journey, the inflationary mechanism produced superhorizon curvature perturbations which affected the future formation of the universe. This study analyzed the growth of superhorizon curvature perturbations in the inflationary universe. Using a simple ultraslow-roll model, we derived the coherence function between any two points in the curvature perturbation. It showed that the causality limits the growth of the curvature perturbation, thereby constraining the important inflationary slow-roll parameters, allowing the universe to produce a large enough primordial black hole. Our research will help estimate how curvature perturbations form primordial black holes in the universe.

How does genetic inheritance affect learning and memory?

This study aims to explore how epigenetic factors affect learning and memory in academic performanc. Previous studies have shown that genetic factors affect about 60% of the variation in scientific learning (Polmin & Haworth, 2008). However, recent studies have indicated that the interaction of genes with the environment (epigenetics) may be the most important factor affecting brain development, brain plasticity, and learning behavior. Environmental factors activate intracellular signaling pathways and alter the state of epigenetic genes. Epigenetic factors affect neuroplasticity through neurophysiology, which in turn regulates learning and memory. One of the epigenetic factors, non-coding small molecule RNA (MicroRNA) is currently considered to be the primary factor regulating brain development and cognitive learning memory. The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between non-coding small molecule RNA in neural pathways related to brain plasticity, cognitive ability, and scientific learning effectiveness. In addition, this study also examined how genetic factors, including genetics and epigenetics, affect adolescent cognitive function and scientific learning memory. Discovering how learning environments interact with genetics will provide important insights into the academic and practical aspects of adaptive learning.

Jokes for the brain: Unlock the neural mechanisms of the brain in reading different humorous materials

Humor is a good medicine for physical and mental health, as well as an effective lubricant for interpersonal relationships. Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have revealed the neural structure of the brain in reading humorous materials, and the different brain regions dedicated to reading and understanding different humorous materials. Based on this, Chen and Chang’s research team is the first to use event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the cognitive processes of different humorous materials, taking advantage of the high temporal resolution of ERPs to clarify the dynamic temporal differences in the cognitive processes of humor comprehension. The results not only enable us to understand how the brain interprets different types of humorous materials (e.g., pun jokes and semantic jokes) from the perspective of brain science, but also contribute to the integration of psychological research in Taiwan and abroad, and facilitate academic/scientific exchanges between international scholars.

Taiwan's motorcycle waterfall spectacle poses health risks

Motorcycles are the most common mode of transportation in Taiwan, as they are convenient and can quickly reach their destination, saving a great deal of commuting time, but is riding a motorcycle related to people's healthy lifestyle habits? Or is it related to increasing the risk of obesity? The research team of Professor Liao in the Department of Health Promotion and Health Education at National Taiwan Normal University conducted a series of analyses and discussions on this topic. The research team measured motorcycle use behavior among more than 1,000 Taiwanese adults and explored their association with healthy lifestyle habits and obesity risk. The first findings showed that “high motorcycle users” (more than 280 minutes per week) had a 1.5-fold increase in obesity risk compared with "non-motorcycle users." The second study found that Taiwanese adults who ride more than 30 minutes a day on motorcycles replace more traffic-related physical activity (such as walking and cycling). Based on the results of this study, it is suggested that health promotion programs need to be designed specifically for the motorcycle population in the future.