Do you hear what I hear?
Hearing is a two-step process. We first capture sound waves but then our brains combine that information with data from other senses and our prior experiences.
In the process of integrating information, if something is missing, our brain may create illusions in order to make sense of things.
In this episode, we talk to Dr. Rebecca Hirst, who is a post doc researcher at The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing – TILDA, who focuses on understanding how information from different sensory inputs are integrated and generate our perceptions.
One of her main studies focuses on the Sound-Induced Flash Illusion, or SIFI, and how that affects our perceptions as we age.
Resources:
- Dr. Rebecca Hirst’s profile at TILDA
- Dr. Rebecca Hirst’s Twitter account
- Dr. Hirst’s paper on the Sound-Induced Flash Illusion
- BBC Documentary “Do You See What I See?”
- Dr. Annalisa Setti
- Dr. Kyle Elliott Mathewson
What am I? 