497 | Am I Pronouncing This Correctly? Reading, Context, and Word Recognition

In this week's episode, hosts Liam Clifford and Bruno Mesquita interview Niki Sinha (they/them), a PhD candidate in Neuroscience. Niki's research delves into the processes by which, when we read, we connect letters with sound and words with meanings.  As an example, the word "lead" has a very different meaning (and a very different pronunciation!) in the context of "lead singer," as opposed to "lead pipe."

These cognitive processes are so quick as to almost appear automatic.  In this interview, we learn, from Niki, that making connections between visual information and language isn't something that our brain is programmed to do by itself (unlike recognizing faces for instance), but it is something almost all of us learn to do anyways. 

Do tune in for a very erudite and engaging conversation! 

Recorded on Mark 4, 2025
Produced by Mark Ambrogio

Theme song provided by FreeBeats.io (Produced by White Hot).