Interview #27: Why Do We Laugh? (With Professor Sophie Scott)

Professor Scott is the Director of the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, and Head of the Speech Communications Group. Her research studies the neural basis of vocal communication - how our brains process the information in speech and voices, and how our brains control the production of our voice. Professor Scott also researches the expression of emotion in the voice, especially laughter. In this episode, we spend some time discussion why we laugh and how this might change with mental illness, what makes something funny, and why our voices are so relevant in understanding our mental state. 

Professor Scott is also well known for her public engagement work, including performing stand-up comedy, featuring on radio (The Life Scientific, The Infinite Monkey Cage) and TV (Horizon, Inside Culture) and the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. Professor Scott hosts a podcast with a poet - 'The Neuromantics' available on https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-neuromantics/id1455641494

Interviewed by Dr. Anya Borissova - Give feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com -  Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcast

Give feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcast