A leading psychologist will tonight (November 12) deliver a thought provoking insight into the workings of the brain and how it enables us to understand other people.
Around 250 people are expected to attend the key lecture which is the latest in a series of prestigious public talks being given by internationally renowned academic leaders who are now working at the University of Aberdeen.
Tonight is the turn of Professor Neil Macrae who has held academic positions in the UK and USA, is the holder of several celebrated career awards, and has published widely in experimental psychology.
The Professor of Social Cognition's talk will shed some light on the mental processes that allow us to interpret the beliefs, feelings and personality traits of others. Understanding how the brain gives rise to social interaction is a topic that has attracted phenomenal interest in recent years.
Knowing Me, Knowing You: Minds, Brains and Social Cognition is the title of Professor Macrae's talk which will also include some humorous references.
The University of Aberdeen graduate said: "Successfully negotiating life's challenges relies on a raft of important psychological skills. Notable among these is the ability to understand other people, to figure out what they may be thinking, feeling and about to do.
"My lecture will centre on three issues. One will focus on the psychological processes through which we understand others. The second will explore where these processes are implemented in the brain and the third may include some mention of Abba!"
This is the third of the University's Inaugural Lectures which allow some of the institution's top scholars to share their thinking on topics as diverse as literature, religion and politics, global warming and chronic pain.
Tonight's lecture takes place at King's College Centre from 6pm to 7pm and there will also be opportunities for questions.
"Ireland – enough religion to make us hate, not enough to make us love" (Swift): religion, conflict and peace in Northern Ireland is the next in the lecture series and it takes place on Monday, (November 19).
For more information about The Inaugural Lectures 2007 see: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/inaugurallectures/