Environmental codes in the brain and brain codes in the environment: bridging the gap between human, nature, and culture

Summary: Our understanding of auditory perception has often overlooked the ecological context in which it operates. In this talk, I will explore how the brain processes natural soundscapes—not only as sensory input leading to semantic processing, but also on how it conveys ecological information shaped by habitats, seasons, and human activity. Trying to move beyond traditional approaches focused on speech and music, I will present how combining methods from auditory neuroscience, ecological acoustics, and anthropology allows us to better understand how the human brain encodes the ecological structure of soundscape. And conversely, how does neuroscience knowledge allow us to better understand how environmental properties are reflected through their soundscapes. Combining long-term soundscape recordings, explainable AI with fMRI experiments, and fieldwork listening experiments with rural population from Senegal, I'll present how acoustic features reflecting environmental knowledge, such as biodiversity, are encoded within the brain and interact in shaping auditory perception. Our results suggest that both the structure of soundscapes and the listener’s ecological expertise influence neural processing and recognition performance. This interdisciplinary approach offers new perspectives on auditory cognition, grounded not only in the physics of sound but in the lived experience of listening within environments.

‼️ Le séminaire peut être suivi en ligne suivant le lien : https://univ-amu-fr.zoom.us/j/95011527683?pwd=bTeNvaaZY75buaa7bRL0pcucXSASm7.1

Le mardi 6 janvier 2026 à 11h00 / Amphithéâtre François Canac, LMA

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