{"id":46,"date":"2021-06-03T14:48:19","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T14:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uni.hi.is\/rosas\/?page_id=46"},"modified":"2024-06-03T13:56:39","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T13:56:39","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uni.hi.is\/rosas\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Voice and speech acoustics
\n<\/em><\/strong>Humans are a speaking species, and yet we know surprisingly little about the genetic components of voice and speech in humans. At deCODE Genetics, I have investigated the phenotypic and genetic correlates of voice and speech acoustics in a sample of 13,000 Icelanders, focusing on fundamental frequency, vowel formants and voice quality. First results have been published in Science Advances<\/a>. We discovered the first genetic locus for voice pitch - common sequence variants in ABCC9<\/em> - and found that vowel acoustics also have a heritable component. This received considerable media attention, including in Nature<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Musicality
\n<\/em><\/strong>In 2019 I started the deCODE Musicality Project, collecting data on beat and tone perception in 20,000 Icelanders with the aim to understand the genetics of human musicality. As a linguist, I am particularly interested in the relationship between music and language at phenotypic and genetic levels. First results from the project are in preparation for publication (see also EVOLANG XV proceedings<\/a>). I am a member of the inspiring Musicality Genomics Consortium<\/a>, in which I contribute to GWAS meta-analyses of self-reported musicality measures.<\/span><\/p>\n

Language
\n<\/em><\/strong>My ultimate aim is to better understand the genetic factors underpinning language and communication. I am involved in several projects investigating the genetics of language-related traits, including research on the genetic propensity for phonological ability and its association with personality and health<\/a>. I've recently become interested in how genetic research can test and inform theorizing on the evolution of language and speech broadly construed<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Olfaction and olfactory language
\n<\/em><\/strong>Inspired by research on olfactory language, I conducted a genome-wide association study on odor perception and naming<\/a> at deCODE Genetics, discovering sequence variants associated with the perception and naming of fish, cinnamon and licorice odors. The findings were discussed in Nature<\/a> and New Scientist<\/a>, and I was interviewed in the New York Times<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pragmatics
\n<\/em><\/strong>The ability to understand the function of an utterance in context, i.e., what speech act is being performed, is a critical aspect of successful communication. For my PhD<\/a> at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, I used cognitive neuroscience methods (EEG) to investigate indirect speech act comprehension. The findings show that the processing of indirect meaning begins as soon as possible<\/a> and involves anticipatory processes<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Conversation
\n<\/em><\/strong>What aspects of turn-taking and conversation are universal across languages and cultures? I contributed to research on this question at the Max Planck for Psycholinguistics, taking part in a cross-linguistic study on the repair of communication problems (e.g., huh? What?<\/em>) in a sample of 12 languages. I investigated the linguistic practices for repair in Icelandic conversation<\/a> and contributed to the collaborative project, which revealed universal principles in the repair of communication problems<\/a> and received considerable media attention, including in the New York Times<\/a> (see also this wonderful Youtube compilation<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Voice and speech acoustics Humans are a speaking species, and yet we know surprisingly little about the genetic components of voice and speech…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1568,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-46","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uni.hi.is\/rosas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uni.hi.is\/rosas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uni.hi.is\/rosas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uni.hi.is\/rosas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uni.hi.is\/rosas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/uni.hi.is\/rosas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184,"href":"https:\/\/uni.hi.is\/rosas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46\/revisions\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uni.hi.is\/rosas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}