Anya Hurlbert's guest appearances

Anya Hurlbert

The Life Scientific

Private Passions

Braincare

Tim Birkhead

Nick Davies

Patricia Wiltshire

Peter Piot

Athene Donald

Simon Wessely

Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Carlo Rovelli

Jane Goodall

Eugenia Cheng

David Nutt

Brian Greene

Sanjeev Gupta

Venki Ramakrishnan

Uta Frith

OwlTail

If you’ve ever wondered why you love blue and hate the colour khaki, or have spent hours arguing over a colour chart because you and your partner can’t agree on how to paint the bedroom, you’ll be fascinated by Professor Anya Hurlbert. She’s a neuroscientist and a leading researcher into how the brain perceives colour, and why we feel so strongly about it. Brought up in Texas, studying at Princeton and Harvard, she is now Professor of Visual Neuroscience at the University of Newcastle; she’s also spent years advising the National Gallery on how to show their pictures so we can see the colours most vividly. She’s married to the science writer Matt Ridley.In conversation with Michael Berkeley, Anya Hurlbert discusses the scientific research that reveals the world’s favourite colour: blue. She talks about how the brain processes colour, and why colour perception is so individual and so bafflingly complex. A few years ago for instance, ten million people took to Twitter to argue about the colour of ‘The Dress’ – was it blue and black, or white and gold? Professor Hurlbert got hold of the real dress, put it in a tent in Newcastle, and invited people to come look at it. So, can she tell us what colour it is really? Music is incredibly important in Anya Hurlbert’s life, and she grew up with an ambition to be a concert pianist. She still finds that playing Bach ‘calms her soul’. Music choices include Bach, Beethoven, and two composers she believes should be better known: Thea Musgrave and Elisabeth Lutyens. She chooses a song by Schubert which is all about the colour green. And she reveals her passion for country music, with Jerry Jeff Walkers “Up Against the Wall, Red Neck Mother”. Produced by Elizabeth Burke.A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 3

If you’ve ever wondered why you love blue and hate the colour khaki, or have spent hours arguing over a colour chart because you and your partner can’t agree on how to paint the bedroom, you’ll be fascinated by Professor Anya Hurlbert. She’s a neuroscientist and a leading researcher into how the brain perceives colour, and why we feel so strongly about it. Brought up in Texas, studying at Princeton and Harvard, she is now Professor of Visual Neuroscience at the University of Newcastle; she’s also spent years advising the National Gallery on how to show their pictures so we can see the colours most vividly. She’s married to the science writer Matt Ridley. In conversation with Michael Berkeley, Anya Hurlbert discusses the scientific research that reveals the world’s favourite colour: blue. She talks about how the brain processes colour, and why colour perception is so individual and so bafflingly complex. A few years ago for instance, ten million people took to Twitter to argue about the colour of ‘The Dress’ – was it blue and black, or white and gold? Professor Hurlbert got hold of the real dress, put it in a tent in Newcastle, and invited people to come look at it. So, can she tell us what colour it is really? Music is incredibly important in Anya Hurlbert’s life, and she grew up with an ambition to be a concert pianist. She still finds that playing Bach ‘calms her soul’. Music choices include Bach, Beethoven, and two composers she believes should be better known: Thea Musgrave and Elisabeth Lutyens. She chooses a song by Schubert which is all about the colour green. And she reveals her passion for country music, with Jerry Jeff Walkers “Up Against the Wall, Red Neck Mother”. Produced by Elizabeth Burke. A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 3

Anya Hurlbert wants you to look at colour in a whole new light. The Professor of Visual Neuroscience at Newcastle University is involved in fascinating research that looks at the interaction between colour, light and how this is interpreted by the human brain.Today, Anya shares her insights on colour, cognition and memory. We discuss the science behind colour perception, how light and colour affect our mental health, and Anya finally gives us an expert explanation of that viral blue-gold dress conundrum.We talk about: How does colour blindness work? The blue-gold dress that sparked a million arguments Light levels and mental health Do SAD lamps work? Blue light and circadian rhythms Colour constancy and chromatic adaptation Colour and the limbic brain Anya's research on eyesight as an indicator for Alzheimers 

Anya Hurlbert wants you to look at colour in a whole new light. The Professor of Visual Neuroscience at Newcastle University is involved in fascinating research that looks at the interaction between colour, light and how this is interpreted by the human brain. Today, Anya shares her insights on colour, cognition and memory. We discuss the science behind colour perception, how light and colour affect our mental health, and Anya finally gives us an expert explanation of that viral blue-gold dress conundrum. We talk about:<ul> <li>How does colour blindness work?</li> <li>The blue-gold dress that sparked a million arguments</li> <li>Light levels and mental health</li> <li>Do SAD lamps work?</li> <li>Blue light and circadian rhythms</li> <li>Colour constancy and chromatic adaptation</li> <li>Colour and the limbic brain</li> <li>Anya's research on eyesight as an indicator for Alzheimers</li> </ul>

How Does Light and Colour affect the Brain with Anya Hurlbert

As a professor of visual neuroscience at Newcastle University, Anya Hurlbert is one of our most respected researchers into the way we see colour. In a career as a physicist, physiologist, neuroscientist and physician at some of the great research institutes on both sides of the Atlantic, Anya’s investigations into how we perceive the colour of objects has transformed our view of how our predominantly visual brains function. She explains how the multidisciplinary approach to research in vision from physics to psychology, and encounters with some leading Nobel Prize winners, has fostered a love of the slippery nature of colour.   When, a few years ago, an online image of a blue and black striped dress spun virally out of control, it divided us all. Half of us were adamant the dress was white and gold, and the other half convinced it was blue and black, and it caused us all to question the objective way we think we see the world as it really is. Colour is, Anya argues, made in the mind, not just out there in the world and we don’t always see it in the same way.And as she reveals to Jim, with recent technological advances in LED lighting, she’s turned her attention to the nature of light itself, and how by controlling its components, it could have a profound influence on both our state of mind and the appreciation of our rich world of colour.Producer Adrian Washbourne

As a professor of visual neuroscience at Newcastle University, Anya Hurlbert is one of our most respected researchers into the way we see colour. In a career as a physicist, physiologist, neuroscientist and physician at some of the great research institutes on both sides of the Atlantic, Anya’s investigations into how we perceive the colour of objects has transformed our view of how our predominantly visual brains function. She explains how the multidisciplinary approach to research in vision from physics to psychology, and encounters with some leading Nobel Prize winners, has fostered a love of the slippery nature of colour. When, a few years ago, an online image of a blue and black striped dress spun virally out of control, it divided us all. Half of us were adamant the dress was white and gold, and the other half convinced it was blue and black, and it caused us all to question the objective way we think we see the world as it really is. Colour is, Anya argues, made in the mind, not just out there in the world and we don’t always see it in the same way. And as she reveals to Jim, with recent technological advances in LED lighting, she’s turned her attention to the nature of light itself, and how by controlling its components, it could have a profound influence on both our state of mind and the appreciation of our rich world of colour. Producer Adrian Washbourne