Of Sound Mind, Nina Kraus
Of Sound Mind, Nina Kraus
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Of Sound Mind
How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World

Author: Nina Kraus

Narrator: Elizabeth Wiley

Unabridged: 9 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/28/2021


Synopsis

Making sense of sound is one of the hardest jobs we ask our brains to do. In Of Sound Mind, Nina Kraus examines the partnership of sound and brain, showing for the first time that the processing of sound drives many of the brain's core functions. Our hearing is always on—we can't close our ears the way we close our eyes—and yet we can ignore sounds that are unimportant. We don't just hear; we engage with sounds. Kraus explores what goes on in our brains when we hear a word—or a chord, or a meow, or a screech.

Our hearing brain, Kraus tells us, is vast. It interacts with what we know, with our emotions, with how we think, with our movements, and with our other senses. Auditory neurons make calculations at one-thousandth of a second; hearing is the speediest of our senses. Sound plays an unrecognized role in both healthy and hurting brains. Kraus explores the power of music for healing as well as the destructive power of noise on the nervous system. She traces what happens in the brain when we speak another language, have a language disorder, experience rhythm, listen to birdsong, or suffer a concussion. Kraus shows how our engagement with sound leaves a fundamental imprint on who we are. The sounds of our lives shape our brains, for better and for worse, and help us build the sonic world we live in.

About Nina Kraus

Nina Kraus, a neuroscientist who has done pathbreaking research on sound and hearing for more than thirty years, is Hugh Knowles Professor of Neurobiology, Communication Sciences, and Otolaryngology at Northwestern University.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brian on November 09, 2021

Like most genres, popular science goes through phases - for the last couple of years, neuroscience has been the in thing, to the extent that I tend to think 'not another brain book' when I see one - but for someone who has always sung, the idea of finding out more about the relationship between the......more

Goodreads review by Nelson on April 30, 2023

I expected more from "Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World" (2021) from a book written by a neuroscientist specializing in auditory processing, Nina Kraus. I was hoping to delve more deeply into how we hear, make sense of sound, and how it affects us. Kraus gives an accou......more

Goodreads review by Dorai on June 02, 2023

This is a very rewarding book on how our brain processes sound input, and what a significant building block our auditory system is for our cognition. Kraus calls this the "sound mind" (nice pun), and convincingly demonstrates that it is much vaster than one might suspect. It certainly was a revelati......more

Goodreads review by E.S.K on December 21, 2024

I came across this book recently while delving into my research on music & literacy. It emphasizes the profound impact of sound processing on cognitive functions, including reading skills. As a music teacher, incorporating musical activities can enhance phonemic awareness, auditory discrimination, a......more

Goodreads review by Lauren on June 12, 2024

I thoroughly enjoyed this in-depth (but accessible) exploration of the relationship between sound and the brain. As an acoustician, I’d really only ever studied sound outside the body, which is introduced succinctly in Chapter 1. I learned much about everything from neuroscience to birdsong, and I w......more