CafeSci Boston - “Music to our Ears"

“Music to our Ears: How does sound help us understand the world?" with MIT's Dr. Josh McDermott

Tuesday, December 16th at 7pm, Middlesex Lounge, 315 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge,

Josh McDermott will discuss auditory scene analysis - the process by which the brain infers events in the world from the sound signal that enters the ears. One aspect of auditory scene analysis is “the cocktail party problem,” in which the brain receives sounds from multiple sources and must extract the content of one of them, for instance when following a conversation in a restaurant. McDermott will also discuss a second scene analysis problem, in which sound from a source interacts with the environment on the way to the ear, profoundly altering the source signal by introducing reverberation. Both problems are critical to our ability to understand speech and appreciate music.

Josh McDermott is an Assistant Professor of Brain and Cognitive Science at MIT

Join us this month for a pint and conversation!

The Middlesex Lounge is located on Mass Ave, a few blocks from the Central Square Red Line stop in Cambridge. For folks who are driving, parking is available at the following locations: University Park @ MIT garage - 55 Franklin Street ($10 after 5:00 PM)Green Street Garage - 260 Green Street ($6 after 6:00 PM, up to 4 hours)Cambridge municipal lots along Bishop Allen Drive (parallel to Mass Ave in Central Square)Metered street parking along Mass Ave and nearby streets

Municipal and metered street parking is free after 6:00 (if you can find any, and watch out for the permit parking only signs on most side streets in Cambridge). Parking rates are from Parkopedia.com (http://en.parkopedia.com/) - YMMV.