Brain vs World

The voice is one of our most important means of communication, but few pay much attention to their own, except when it becomes damaged or lost. To help demonstrate vocal potential, this talk will look at how your voice can convey cues to your identity, emotion and personality; how voices can help us make decisions such as who we vote for, who we employ in our company and who we find attractive; and how voices can be combined with modern technology to help improve and restore the ability to speak in people with vocal deficits.

Nina Simone sang of the challenges ‘To be Young, Gifted and Black’ but there are also challenges to be young, gifted and unpopular, or old, gifted and schizophrenic, and multiple other complex human combinations. This talk will question some of the myths around being ‘gifted’ and what this can mean in terms of life outcomes. Do all gifted children become gifted adults? What hinders and what helps these transitions?

Sleep problems and better sleep guides are all over social and traditional media, which suggests that it is something society is thinking about. However, do we truly understand what good sleep is? What makes a good sleeper or a poor sleeper? Are we actually sleeping poorly or are there other factors that make us feel tired? Dr Cleland Woods’ talk will discuss what we understand about sleep as well as our expectations of good sleep and good sleep practice.