Forward Thinking The University of Edinburgh

Could music be the answer to keeping us sharp in old age?


Listen to Dr Judy Okely talk about an exciting new project
looking at the potential connection between musical experiences and healthy
ageing in the brain.


Related links:


Judy Okely 


Forward Thinking blog


Healthy mental ageing - the Lothian Birth Cohorts

Should we really be using baby words with infants?



Linguists at the University of Edinburgh have been researching the use of baby talk words and Dr Barbora Skarabela is one of them.




Barbora and her colleagues recently did a study which found that words like “choo-choo” help babies pick up language quicker than adult language alone!




Listen to the podcast to find out more about this research into children’s language development.
Related links:
Wee Science | Learning from kids while they play
Forward Thinking | Research, news and views from Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences

Our ability to keep track of ongoing thoughts,
plans, actions, current tasks, and changes around us is essential for
everyday living.


This ability is known as working memory, a
system of the brain that allows us to focus on what we are doing, switch tasks,
solve problems, or do several things at once such as walking and talking. However, scientists disagree about what limits
our working memory ability, and how those limits change as people grow older.The project Working
Memory Across the Adult Lifespan (WoMAAC) brings together three research groups who disagree with different theories of how and why working memory changes with age. 
Here to discuss
are psychology researchers Professor Robert Logie and Dr Alicia Forsberg, both
part of the University of Edinburgh project team. 
Related links:
WoMAAC project website

How can we understand how language changes over time?Historical linguists aim to map this language change through time by looking at both the structure and sounds of the language as well as its social environment. Minority, non-European languages such as indigenous American ones are barely represented in research on language change and limits our understanding of language change as a whole. Linguistics researcher Dr Ben Molineux is creating the first digitally-based account of change in Mapudungun, the endangered, ancestral language of the Mapuche people of Chile and Argentina.Related links:Corpus of Historical MapudungunBen Molineaux

Traditionally, politics has been about compromise. Being part of a shared community, whether local, national, or international, has been about negotiation, reciprocity, and trust.


How can territorial identity influence, and perhaps even distort, perceptions of fairness?


Perceptions of intergroup (un)fairness and of being “left behind,” for example, provided much of the momentum behind the UK Brexit decision.  Here to discuss are Director of the Neuropolitics Research Lab Professor Laura Cram and Lecturer in Psychology Dr Adam Moore, both from the University of Edinburgh.
Related links:
Neuropolitics Research Lab
Laura Cram







Adam Moore

How should Nietzsche's work influence our daily lives? MSc Public Engagement and Science Communication graduate Tremaine Billham talks to philosophy lecturer Dave Ward on what we can learn from Nietzsche.
Related links:
Dave Ward
Dr Dave Ward: Research in a Nutshell







On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche | Goodreads
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