Skip to main content

Picking a voice from the crowd: Focus on the face

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American



On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.


There's a classic "problem" (meaning one that our brains have to solve, not us, though we do have to solve how our brains do it) in sensory perception: the cocktail party problem. When we're at a cocktail party (or, for those of us like me who are not swanky enough to go to cocktail parties, at a bar or a crowded coffee shop or a conference), and we are trying to focus on conversation with a single person while everyone else is also talking...how DO we do that? How can we pick out a single voice and understand it when other voices around us are as loud or louder as the one we are trying to hear? Well, some of it is attention, and it turns out that some of it may also be the face. Focus on the face. Head over to Neurotic Physiology and check it out.

Scicurious has a PhD in Physiology from a Southern institution. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from another respected Southern institution. She is currently a post-doctoral researcher at a celebrated institution that is very fancy and somewhere else. Her professional interests are in neurophysiology and psychiatric disorders. She recently obtained her PhD and is pursuing her love of science and writing at the same time. She often blogs in the third person. For more information about Scicurious and to view her recent award and activities, please see her CV ( http://scientopia.org/blogs/scicurious/a-scicurious-cv/)

More by Scicurious