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Hearing and processing sounds is another job done by the brain. For humans who often communicate with spoken words and language it is arguably one of the most important senses. Tonight we hear how the brain makes sense and understands the noise that is all around us and delve a little deeper to understand the meaning behind laughter. The Beautiful Mind events will be taking place in the upstairs function room at the Percy Arms, Percy Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RW. Convenient for Haymarket and Eldon square public transport. Please note this venue has a strict no under 18’s policy. The fu…
Tuning in down the pub
Adrian Rees
(Professor of Auditory Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University)
Every day we are bombarded by sounds. How does our brain separate the different sources and make sense of them all? Imagine you are in the pub… there are lots of conversations going on, how do you focus on what your friends are saying and filter out everyone else? Why is this harder to do as we age and how do your eyes help you hear? We will explore how sound gets from your ears to your brain and what happens to it when it does!
The Science of Laughter
Kai Alter
(Senior Lecturer in Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience, Newcastle University)
There are lots of different types of laughter: Friendly laughter, tickling laughter, "schadenfreude" laughter (expressing pleasure at somebody’s misfortune) and taunting laughter. I will talk about how we humans make, interpret and how our brains process laughter. It has been found that people can guess the type of laughter just by hearing it without knowing anything about the situation. This is because each type of laughter has its own unique vocal and sound pattern which might be linked to evolution of laughter and its use as an expression of emotion.
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