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Best Of Blue Dot: The Sonic Mind: A conversation with Neuroscientist Nina Kraus

Host Dave Schlom revisits a chat with Northwestern University neuroscientist Nina Kraus about her work on the science of sound and its importance to our brains.

As she points out in her new book, Of Sound Mind, the brain uses sound in vast and complex ways to make sense of the world around us. From the importance of music (which Kraus call's the mind's "jackpot" for processing sound) to language and communication and the everyday noises of the world around us, sound plays an integral part in our lives.

Kraus and her colleagues at the Brainvolts lab are doing pioneering work on everything from music to noise pollution and brain health issues like concussion and dementia.

It's a natural topic for Blue Dot since it is after all a show about science and nature that uses Audi to convey meaning to you!

Dave Schlom is the longtime host and creator of Blue Dot. From surfing to Voyager in interstellar space, rock guitar to orcas in our imperiled oceans, the topics on Blue Dot are as varied as the host’s interests and connections -- which are pretty limitless! An internationally respected space history journalist, Dave is also deeply fascinated by all aspects of the grand workings of nature’s awesome machinery on scales ranging from galactic to subatomic. And topics take in all aspects of the arts and sciences.
Matt Fidler is a producer and sound designer with over 15 years’ experience producing nationally distributed public radio programs. He has worked for shows such as Freakonomics Radio, Selected Shorts, Studio 360, The New Yorker Radio Hour and The Takeaway. In 2017, Matt launched the language podcast Very Bad Words, hitting the #28 spot in the iTunes podcast charts.