Ever wondered why music is the universal language of humankind? Weaving together questions, theories, and evidence from cognitive psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, ethnomusicology, linguistics, and computer science we will discover why music is so fundamental to us humans and why, no matter the obstacles, it's here to stay.

Dr. Lopez-Gonzalez’s research interests lie at the nexus of human creativity and general intelligence, artificial intelligence, and society. For Dr. Lopez-Gonzalez, building an interactive human-centric relationship with technology is critical for an ethical and sustainable future with autonomous, intelligent systems. The core of her work lies in mapping out the cognitive behavioral and neural correlates of how humans seamlessly adapt to multisensory, multi-agent environments. Using an interdisciplinary approach that merges questions, theory, methods, data, and experiences from both the Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Arts, Dr. Lopez-Gonzalez is identifying the fundamental and nuanced roles of emotion, knowledge, and cognitive plasticity within real-time improvisatory and collaborative problem solving, decision-making, and action behaviors. Her work focuses on four applied domains: human-like automation (e.g. robotics), interdisciplinary Science-Art education (e.g. medical humanities), patient-centric digital app engagement in healthcare (e.g. brain disorders), and end user information technology education (e.g. data privacy and safety).

Event page: https://events.jhu.edu/form/hahlopez-gonzalez