How Our Brains Process Sound with Professor Sophie Scott

Sophie Scott CBE is a professor of good vibes! The Director of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL is an author, TED talker, and expert on sound, neuroscience, and the weird and wonderful things that happen between your ear and your brain.

How our brain processes sound

Today, on the most meta of The Braincare Podcast, we learn about the bombastic biology of vibrations and electrical signals that help our brains to process sound and discover the astounding physiological responses of listening to the music that we love.

I did a study with the composer, David Arnold, and we scanned him listening to music that he really loved. And I've never seen anything like it!

Our emotional responses to sound

Why is ASMR music to some people's ears while others are completely indifferent? Despite our aural physiology being generally equal, we all have completely different emotional responses to certain sounds.

There are a lot of variations, not necessarily in how we process sound, but these very, very emotional, positive, and negative responses that we have.

Podcast Episode Takeaways

In this second episode with Professor Sophie Scott we will cover:

• How your brain turns vibrations into electricity

• Babies and the rhythm of language

• What's happening when we're simultaneously listening and thinking?

• Root psychological causes of some types of tinnitus

• What makes certain sounds set your teeth on edge?

• The power of curating different auditory environments

Listen here .

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Has all this sonic scrutiny tickled your curiosity? Check out our previous episode with Professor Sophie Scott on How Laughter is Good for Your Brain.