University of Iowa graduate students Narges Firouzshahi and Chris Hunter have won the 2026 Kwak-Ferguson Fellowship from the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. This award goes to upper-level graduate students working in the area of neurodegenerative diseases. Each will receive $5,000.

In a new study, neuroscientists found that adults who use speech and hand gestures when interacting with their child achieve “neural synchrony,” where brain waves in the parent match their child’s. Ece Demir-Lira, associate professor in the UI Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and the study’s corresponding author, says combining words with hand gestures can be applied by parents and teachers alike.