Sophie Scott facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sophie Scott
FMedSci FBA
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Scott in June 2014
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Sophie Kerttu Scott
16 November 1966 Blackburn, England
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| Nationality | British |
| Education |
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| Awards | Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (2017) |
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| Institutions | University College London |
| Thesis | Perceptual centers in speech-acoustic determinants (1993) |
| Doctoral advisor | Peter Howell |
Sophie Scott is a British neuroscientist who studies how our brains understand voices, speech, and laughter. She was born on November 16, 1966. She is a Senior Fellow at University College London (UCL). Her work focuses on how we hear and produce speech, how our voices show emotions, and how humans communicate. She also leads the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL.
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Early Life and Schooling
Sophie Scott was born in Blackburn, England. Her parents are Colin Mountford Scott and Christine Winnifred Scott. She went to Westholme School and Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn. She earned a science degree in 1990 from the University of Westminster. Later, she completed her PhD at University College London in 1994.
What Sophie Scott Researches
Sophie Scott began her research career in Cambridge. She worked at the Medical Research Council (MRC). In 1998, she returned to UCL as a researcher. She has received funding from the Wellcome Trust since 2001. She is currently a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow.
Scott leads the Speech Communication Group at UCL. Her team studies how our brains process sounds from voices. They also look at how our brains control how we use our own voices. Her research explores how different parts of the brain work together. This includes how we pay attention and use our working memory when listening.
She is also interested in how people with cochlear implants learn to hear. These implants help people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Scott also studies how we express feelings through our voices. A big part of her work is about the science of laughter.
Sharing Science with Everyone
Sophie Scott is well-known for sharing her science with the public. She even performs standup comedy to explain her research! In 2013, she was featured on a BBC Radio Four show called The Life Scientific.
In 2014, she gave a special talk at the Royal Institution about laughter. Her work on laughter has also been shown at science fairs. This project is called the Laughter Lab. She has won an award for her public engagement work. In 2017, Scott gave the famous Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. These talks were called The Language of Life and explored how we communicate.
Scott has also appeared on other BBC shows. She was a guest on The Infinite Monkey Cage several times. In 2016, she was on the BBC TV series Horizon. This episode, The Science of Laughter, featured comedian Jimmy Carr.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Sophie Scott has received many awards for her important work. In 2012, she became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci). This honor recognized her studies on how the human brain processes speech. Her research showed how our brains process speech in a similar way to how animals understand calls from their own kind. This has helped us understand how people recover from aphasic stroke. She also applied her work to hearing loss and cochlear implants.
In 2015, Scott gave a talk at the TED conference. In 2016, she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA). This is another high honor for her contributions to science.
In 2020, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). This award was given for her great service to neuroscience.
