Sense-ational

The aim of my research is to understand how we use our senses of vision and touch to gather information about the world and how we use that information to make decisions. In this talk, I will explain how brain imaging can be used to measure how what we see and touch is - literally - mapped in our brains. If you have ever wondered how scientists and clinicians use Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to learn more about how the healthy brains works - and what goes wrong in neurological diseases or after a stroke, come and join me for this talk.

Psychological science tells us that attractiveness relies on bilateral facial symmetry, averageness of non-sexual characteristics and non-averageness of sexual characteristics. These traits have sociobiological importance, so they are evaluated automatically and subconsciously. Now, us scientists - that let's face it are not the most handsome bunch – tried to put that theory to the test. We showed people really brief (1/20th of a second) attractive, average and unattractive people and asked them to appraise how attractive the presentation was. This talk is about what we found!

Pint of Science is organised entirely by volunteer PhD students, and this year we're stepping in front of the mic! In an exciting quick-fire round of talks, the 4 organisers of the Beautiful Mind theme - Marcus, Abi, Zoe & Emma - will give an overview of what they spend their days researching in the lab. Covering a wide range of cutting-edge neuroscience research topics including stroke, schizophrenia, pain processing and growing brain cells in cultures, this is sure to be an exciting end to the festival that you won't want to miss!