





There are few sounds so chilling as the horrific screech of someone running their fingernails down a blackboard. It makes us stop dead in our tracks, cringing and slapping our hands over our ears. John Kennedy, a psychologist at the University of Toronto at Scarborough, believes it is no surprise that people have an almost universal aversion to certain noises. Through evolution, he explains, we have developed an automatic reflex that connects special sounds to negative feelings. Sounds, he says, are either concordant or discordant. Pleasant sounds such as murmurs or music can be used to express comfort. However, people also need to be able to communicate alarm and concern which can indicate a negative or threatening scenario. "A sound like screeching is a warning call, used to quickly grab the group's attention," Kennedy says. "Sounds such as metal on metal or nails on a blackboard can mimic these screeching sounds." Even though people know that these noises (the metal on metal, for example) are not actually warning us of danger, the sound - and the implicit warning - is still ingrained in us, causing us to cringe and stop what we are doing. According to Kennedy, pleasant noises are often low and slow and like "motherese" in our comforting voices to infants, with pitch variations gradually rising and falling. Negative noises, or what he calls "screechese," are often sudden and shrill and difficult to ignore, with high and unusual batches of frequencies. A baby's cry is a good example of "screechese," he says, while a mother's lullaby is the calming "motherese." The distinctions between good and bad noises are made when the sounds reach the brain, Kennedy says. When sound waves enter the ear, they move through the ear canal, disturbing the flap of tissue - the ear drum - at the end of the canal. The ear drum then agitates the three smallest bones in the human body - the hammer, the anvil and the stapes - which, in turn, vibrate against a membrane that transmits the waves into a fluid-filled, shell-shaped space. The fluid vibrates hair cells which disturb the neurons that carry the information to the brain. "This is all mechanical," Kennedy says. "We can even record noises coming out of the ear apparatus, working in reverse, if the hair cells spontaneously jerk together." Kennedy believes that humans, as a species that can make positive and negative sounds, have much in common with the African primates known as bonobos. These animals engage in family choral singing, rather than troop calls like other primates, and they also use a large range of vocal sounds, like us. "The bonobos may tell us about the origins of our expressive abilities," he says. Kennedy researches perception of pictures and perspective. He was recognized by The New York Times and The Times of London in December 2002 for his ideas on picture making by the blind. They described his theories as "ideas that changed the way we think." "What I try to show is that blind people have an intuitive understanding of perspective in raised pictures, without being taught," Kennedy says. "They know how to signify depth. They also know how to express soft and hard in pictures or jerky or wobbly. This means that what Braille did for words a hundred years ago, we can now do for pictures for the blind." Q&A is a regular feature on the U of T homepage (www.utoronto.ca). Illustration: Francis Blake



HUMANITIES RESEARCH MAKES LICENSING HISTORY A landmark licensing deal between U of T, Université Laval and the Department of Canadian Heritage will give history buffs around the world access to the rich histories of Canadians from all walks of life. This fall, the Library and Archives of Canada will launch an online version of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography/Dictionnaire biographique du Canada (DCB), an extensive bilingual collection of biographies developed jointly by U of T and Laval. The DCB contains biographies of over 8,000 noteworthy Canadians - from prime ministers and judges to farmers and hockey players - and is currently available both in print and on CD-ROM. The CD version was distributed in 2000 to all high schools, colleges, universities and public libraries across the country. The new online version - made possible by a two-year, $1.6 million licensing agreement, which is likely the largest humanities deal to date at a Canadian university - will broaden that reach even further. Renowned historian and DCB general editor Ramsay Cook is excited about the possibilities the online version will create. "Access and exposure will increase significantly," he says. "And, as we work in partnership with the Library to reach out to history teachers across Canada, we hope the DCB will play an even greater role in educating students." Illustration: Francis Blake U of T researchers receive top U.S. honour Five U of T faculty members have joined the ranks of one of the most prestigious scholarly academies in the United States. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has welcomed James Arthur of mathematics, Richard Bond of physics, Geoffrey Hinton of computer science, Linda Hutcheon of English and the Centre for Comparative Literature and Janet Rossant of medical genetics and microbiology and Mount Sinai Hospital as new foreign honorary members in the class of 2003. The American Academy, whose past membership has included revolutionary thinkers such as Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill, counts more than 150 Nobel laureates and 50 Pulitzer Prize winners among its current members. Membership, which is determined through a highly selective process, recognizes outstanding intellectual achievement, leadership and creativity in all fields. The newest members bring U of T's total current membership in the American Academy to 14. "I am absolutely thrilled to see such a strong U of T showing in this year's membership," says U of T President Robert Birgeneau. "This is one of the highest honours that a scholar can achieve."





The Royal Society of Canada elected 11 new Fellows from U of T in 2003. Named to the Académie des letters et des sciences humaines is Roland Le Huenen of comparative literature. Joining the Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences are Meric Gertler, geography; Jill Levenson, English at Trinity College; Patrick Macklem, Faculty of Law; and Carolyn Tuohy, political science, vice-president (policy development) and associate provost. Elected to the Academy of Science are Yoshio Masui, zoology; Gordon West, physics; Ian Blake, electrical and computer engineering; Allan Griffin, physics; David Jenkins, nutritional sciences; and Adel Sedra, electrical and computer engineering (now at the University of Waterloo). The new fellows will be inducted on November 24th. The latest round of Canada Research Chairs, announced in June, includes five new U of T researchers. Bringing U of T's total chairs to 130, these new chairs will translate into a further $600,000 in annual research support for the university. Christopher Moore of OISE/UT was named a Tier 1 Chair. Tier 2 Chairs include: Adam Anderson of psychology, Scott Heximer of physiology, Hoi-Kwong Lo of physics and Vuk Stambolic of medical biophysics. U of T researchers have garnered two of five Killam Prizes, awarded annually to eminent Canadian scholars and scientists actively engaged in research regarding industry, government agencies or universities. University Professors Edward Davison of electrical and computer engineering and Tak Mak of medical biophysics will each receive the $100,000 award, considered to be Canada's most distinguished honour for outstanding career achievement. Earlier this year, U of T bestowed its highest honour - the title of University Professor - on four of its renowned faculty members. Roderick McInnes of paediatrics, Nancy Reid of statistics, Michael Sefton of chemical engineering and applied chemistry and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, and Peter St. George-Hyslop of medicine and the Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Disease received the designation, which recognizes exceptional scholarly achievement and pre-eminence in a particular field. With files from U of T Public Affairs