How do our brains process speech? - Gareth Gaskell

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The average 20-year-old knows between 27,000 and 52,000 different words. Spoken out loud, most of these words last less than a second. With every word, the brain has a quick decision to make: which of those thousands of options matches the signal? And about 98% of the time, the brain chooses the correct word. How is this possible? Gareth Gaskell digs into the complexities of speech comprehension.

Lesson by Gareth Gaskell, directed by Art Shot.

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[murder]

With so many words in the English language, I still have not found a word to describe how much I adore teded.

[kobiadesina]

I'm multilingual and there are times when I swear I can feel my brain switching over to a different language. It's as if the different languages are stored in different compartments of my brain.

[Alkalus]

When someone says even one syllable, it’s basically hangman for the entire audience.

[this_is_sha_me_em]

*Me: Having a weird feeling while listening to each and every word in this video* 👽

[mansiramesh]

My brain's accuracy listening to someone talk: 98%
My brain's accuracy listening to a song: 5%

[vibeymonk]

Google: im the fastest search engine ever built
Human brain: hold my neurons

[scarlettassassinator]

My brain: Ok we planned for this scenario and practiced it in our minds a hundred times already, all you gonna do is speak normally and don't mess this up.

My mouth: How NO

[shamikakelkar]

Can we just talk about the animation
( I mean in a good way the style is interesting

[_im_stupid_]

"98% of the time the brain chooses the correct words"
Idiots like me: Allow us th introduce ourselves

[chrisg]

By becoming fluent in multiple languages that are fundamentally different (i.e. Greek, Mandarin), my brain began to somewhat subconsciously sort and compartmentalize new vocabulary. When I learn a new word in Chinese, my brain will often make note of several factors, such as level of formality, part of speech, any presence of humor/cuteness/playfulness, and potential synonyms.

However, I became retroactively aware that I had been subconsciously doing the same thing when acquiring English as a child. For example, "scald" might activate "burn+wet+verb" in my head, while "deceive" might be "lie+action+formal+intent to obtain sth." This sort of thing became more apparent when I had Chinese classmates ask me things like "what's the difference between promise and swear?". I had to analyze the specific context and implications of words I'd used since primary school.

[varshabalaji]

*that awkward moment when you realize your brain is processing the words he's using to explain how the brain processes words*

[--Paws--]

When my language arts teacher explained the definition of etymology, my mind literally exploded with words I have remembered from that point in time to as far back as I can remember. It made me more avid of using the dictionary at certain times and at the same time rely less on the dictionary; a paradox of usage.

[missdelaney]

Thank you for this video. My dad is having to learn how to “talk” again. He is having trouble with basically the overall of what this video is about. It’s nice to learn more about how the brain works around it and maybe a way to help him more now that I understand more. Thank you for the video, amazing as always!!

[warrenkeystone]

"each word that we know, is separated by a different processing unit"
My processing unit for everything I studied and orally remembered: *[disappears]*

[howardlim]

Suddenly felt amazed, we all can understand word by word in this video... It is just mind blowing.

[zssky]

*3 AM*
TedED : *uploads*
Me : I don't need sleep, I need answers

[asmael]

1:53
I feel bad for that yellow rectangle but that was hilarious 😭

[jaypatel]

In the entire video I had been thinking how I was processing those words and I lost tract of what the speaker was saying. I consciously was thinking about it and had to rewind everytime. Anybody else did the same??

[dethwind]

I would live to see more myths from around the world I love those so much

[williamhenry]

This animation looks kinda weird but the information in it can’t be define, thanks Ted