Mani che cantano e occhi che ascoltano. La percezione musicale nei non udenti

Hands that Sing, Eyes that Listen: How the Deaf Perceive Music – Can deaf people hear music? And can they enjoy and appreciate what hearing people do when attending live events such as concerts or music shows? The answer to both questions is yes, and the present paper examines how vibrating instruments, generous sign language interpreters and the senses of touch and sight – generally devoted to touching and seeing – may be transformed into powerful tools to break down barriers, build relationships and foster active and effective communication. All this can be achieved through a collective, universal language, the language of music, which is able to bring to life silent but truly vibrant soundscapes

Wine tasting: a neurophysiological measure of taste and olfaction interaction in the experience

In the last years have been provided evidences of sensory–sensory connectivity and influences of one modality over primary sensory cortex of another, a phenomena called crossmodality. Typically, for the wine tasting, sommeliers in addition to the use of the gustation, by the introduction of the wine into the mouth, employ the stimulation of the olfactory system both through a direct olfactory stimulation (by the nose) and a retro-nasal pathway (inhaling air while swirling the wine around in the mouth). Aim of the present study was to investigate the reaction to the wine gustation with and without the direct olfactory contribution, through an electroencephalographic index of approach or withdrawal (AW) motivation, and an autonomic index (Emotional Index – EI), deriving from the matching of heart rate and galvanic skin response activity and considered an indicator of emotional involvement. Results showed a statistically significant increase of the EI values in correspondence of wine tasting with the olfactory component (p<0.01) in comparison to the tasting without the direct olfactory contribution, and a trend of greater approach attitude was reported for the same condition. Data suggest an interaction of the two sensory modalities influencing the emotional and the cognitive aspects of wine tasting experience in a non-expert sampl

Mani che cantano e occhi che ascoltano. La percezione musicale nei non udenti

Hands that Sing, Eyes that Listen: How the Deaf Perceive Music – Can deaf people hear music? And can they enjoy and appreciate what hearing people do when attending live events such as concerts or music shows? The answer to both questions is yes, and the present paper examines how vibrating instruments, generous sign language interpreters and the senses of touch and sight – generally devoted to touching and seeing – may be transformed into powerful tools to break down barriers, build relationships and foster active and effective communication. All this can be achieved through a collective, universal language, the language of music, which is able to bring to life silent but truly vibrant soundscapes

“Dream Big, Fly High: The English Language as a Bridge to Your Dream Job”

Quando nella primavera del 2020 la pandemia da Covid-19 ha raggiunto il territorio italiano, il comitato scientifico del Campionato Nazionale delle Lingue ha deciso di interrompere immediatamente la manifestazione, giunta ormai alle fasi semifinali, e di rivedere completamente l’organizzazione dell’undicesima edizione, prevista per l’Anno Scolastico e Accademico 2020/21. Con l’intenzione di “mettere in pausa la competizione e in scena le competenze,” il Centro Linguistico d’Ateneo dell’Università di Urbino ha dunque deciso di non sospendere l’efficace canale di comunicazione avviato con gli istituti di istruzione secondaria e di sviluppare e promuovere la realizzazione di un progetto didattico che potesse risultare stimolante e utile per il pubblico scolastico che, in questi ultimi anni e oggi più di sempre, è costantemente alla ricerca di risorse online di qualità e di alto profilo. Come vedremo in questo saggio, porre attenzione all’analisi del contesto, lavorare in sinergia con il territorio, adottare in tempi rapidi azioni di sistema in grado di affrontare la sfida della formazione a distanza e progettare interventi mirati sono divenute priorità del CLA di Urbino che in quest’ottica ha sviluppato il Percorso per le Competenze Trasversali e l’Orientamento “Dream Big, Fly High: the English Language as a Bridge to Your Dream Job,” progetto CLIL racchiuso in nove moduli. Scopo del percorso è stato quello di aiutare gli studenti a comprendere che la lingua inglese non è altro che un tool, uno strumento, e che basta decidere di sfruttarlo al meglio, senza ansia da prestazione, per fare un grande passo in avanti verso il raggiungimento dei propri obiettivi con ottimismo, entusiasmo e sviluppando una consapevolezza che renda più forti

Gender and Age Related Effects While Watching TV Advertisements: An EEG Study

The aim of the present paper is to show how the variation of the EEG frontal cortical asymmetry is related to the general appreciation perceived during the observation of TV advertisements, in particular considering the influence of the gender and age on it. In particular, we investigated the influence of the gender on the perception of a car advertisement (Experiment 1) and the influence of the factor age on a chewing gum commercial (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 results showed statistically significant higher approach values for the men group throughout the commercial. Results from Experiment 2 showed significant lower values by older adults for the spot, containing scenes not very enjoyed by them. In both studies, there was no statistical significant difference in the scene relative to the product offering between the experimental populations, suggesting the absence in our study of a bias towards the specific product in the evaluated populations. These evidences state the importance of the creativity in advertising, in order to attract the target population