'Bodily Voices' - a conversation between Sophie Scott and Steven Connor

Tuesday 24 April 2012

The Court Room, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, 6.30-7.30 pm

Have you ever formed an image of someone you've heard on the radio, and then been surprised when you saw what they actually looked like? Why do we notice other people’s accents, but not our own? How do actors and ventriloquists change their voices and what happens in their brain when they do so?

These and other topics will be covered in this evening discussion between neuroscientist Sophie Scott and Steven Connor. The event is the first in a series of public conversations with leading researchers exploring different aspects of the voice.

Professor Sophie Scott heads the Speech Communication Lab at the UCL Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience (ICN). Her work focuses on the neural mechanisms of human communication, particularly how our brains decode the information in the voices we hear, and how this can be affected by hearing loss or stroke.

Steven Connor is a writer, broadcaster, and director of the London Consortium. Since the publication of his book Dumbstruck: a cultural history of ventriloquism, he has had an ongoing interest in the relationship between voices, sounds, and bodies.

The talk is curated by James Wilkes, as part of The Vox Lab, a poetry residency at the UCL Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience supported by a Wellcome Trust Arts Award.

The event is free and places are on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 6pm. Full details can be found at http://thevoxlab.org/?page_id=89

Voiceworks is supported by