\u201cWe\u2019re measuring changes in blood flow and blood oxygen at 50,000 or so different locations across the cerebral cortex while they listen to these stories,” Gallant told Dubner, “to figure out, for each location in the brain that we measured, what information in the stories is driving activity at that location in the brain.\u201d Gallant said that the most surprising finding is that \u201csemantic information, the meaning of the stories, is represented broadly across much of the brain. All of those various areas of the brain represent different aspects of semantic information, in these really complicated maps<\/a> that are very, very rich but fairly consistent across different individuals.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gallant and his team learned that when we listen to a story, different parts of our brains that handle different kinds<\/em> of meaning go to work. Words aren\u2019t solely one-to-one signifiers. When we hear a word, our feelings about its meaning come along to clarify the significance. In a story, metaphor endows a word with multiple meanings, in the context of the story and the listener\u2019s context. So, this activates different areas of the brain simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not all podcasts are stories, however. And podcasts can do a lot more for us than match words with meaning. Listening to an audio story affects your whole body and mind, even though we barely notice these effects. This article will look at a range of other ways podcasts energize our neural functioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kinda Studios<\/a> is \u201ca creative science studio using neuroscience to prove the power of art on human connection and wellbeing.\u201d They study more than what words mean when we hear them; they also study the effect of light, sound, color, and more. This company uses neuroaesthetics to create audiovisual installations and immersive experiences for brands like KIA or Diageo. In a series of interviews for the podcast Fresh Ears<\/a>, Robin Landau and Catherine Templar Lewis, the team behind Kinda Studios, discussed what long-form audio does for people, and why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most people enjoy listening to podcasts while doing other activities, such as chores or exercise. Why is this experience satisfying instead of distracting? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Podcasts let parts of your brain relax while the audio-processing parts of your brain do the work. When we hear the phrase \u201cpay attention,\u201d we often imagine focusing on something, like a flashlight on a target. However, recent research indicates that when the brain pays attention to something, it spends more energy filtering out distractions than it does focusing on stimuli<\/a>. As the team from Kinda Studios said, podcast listening lets you \u201ctake a lot of the attention you’d be just putting on things that might catch your eye, and you get to filter them out.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most people make mental pictures<\/a> while listening to stories with visual detail. Even when we hear a nonverbal sound (such as glass breaking), an image can pop up in our minds. These mental pictures provide clues about what to expect. If I hear a glass fall on my kitchen floor and break, the picture in my head tells me to grab a broom and make sure I\u2019m wearing shoes. If I hear a window pane breaking late at night, the mental image makes me grab my phone and get ready to swipe for an emergency call. Both images, though different, help me stay safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When we conjure these mental images, our personal context colors them in. For example, if I say the phrase \u201ca handsome prince,\u201d you might think of The Prince of Wales, Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid, or Prince Rogers Nelson of \u201cPurple Rain\u201d fame. If you said \u201dhandsome prince\u201d to people from different countries or generations, the images would change. The words \u201chandsome prince\u201d would carry different emotions and memories along with them in different contexts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Since we construct mental pictures through our memories and lived experiences, the mental movies we unintentionally create feel personally meaningful to us. As the Kinda Studios team said, \u201cYou’ve put more of yourself into (the podcast) because you’re actually making your own creative choices to choose what that character looks like.\u201d This context makes the spoken words more memorable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If I told you that it was possible to have the person of your choice enlighten and validate you, any time you want, you might say that kind of relationship was an impossible dream. But podcasts encourage relationships in three ways: <\/p>\n\n\n\n These elements work together to make us feel more related to the podcaster and the (unseen) rest of the podcast\u2019s audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you listen to a podcast, you may feel that the conversation is just for you. The podcast listening experience feels like being in a bubble with a smart companion, particularly when you use headphones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A 2022 study by Stephanie Tobin of the University of Queensland shows that podcasts make people feel less lonely<\/a>. Tobin and her authors hypothesized that podcast listeners may have \u201ca need to belong\u201d or show signs of neuroses. This wasn\u2019t the case. Study participants came to podcasts out of \u201copenness to experience, interest-based curiosity, and need for cognition.\u201d Over time, the study participants\u2019 feelings about the podcasts changed. The more hours of podcasts the participants consumed, the more they felt connected to the podcast hosts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Podcast audiences don\u2019t consciously seek out \u201ca simulated conversation with friends,\u201d but over time, they experience the benefits of such a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A second way that podcasts make audiences feel connected to the podcaster is recurring availability. Podcasts have been called \u201caudio on demand.\u201d The foundation of the relationship is the audience\u2019s choice to download and listen. The Kinda Studios team said, \u201cWe use the word intimacy a lot around podcasts\u2026 because when you choose to listen it’s an active process.\u201d The podcast listener makes an active choice to consume the show in a particular time and environment. The relationship between the listener and the podcast episode is secure. And, if the podcast doesn’t deliver new episodes, the listener is free to move on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Podcasts tackle complicated topics, break them into parts, and examine them closely from different angles. This measured examination aids understanding, which supports and validates the audience\u2019s learning process. Some writers call this \u201chand-holding.\u201d Podcasts don\u2019t have to adhere to the strict time constraints that radio does. So, podcasters can use pacing, music, and sound effects to illuminate ideas. As the audience fills in mental pictures with their own context, the podcaster-audience relationship builds a sense of cooperative exploration, further encouraging an emotional bond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Podcasting: The Audio Media Revolution<\/a>, by Martin Spinelli and Lance Dann, the authors wrote, \u201cHand-holding has been a fairly common criticism of a number of American projects (particularly This American Life) for some time now\u2026.it unconsciously links two often-disparaged aspects of an American audio production style: an affinity for personal closeness and a very strong attachment to clear narrative structures.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, the services that are simplest for a friend to provide, are now done in part by podcasts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Every day, we have to do things that we don\u2019t feel like doing. Whether it\u2019s the washing up or driving from place to place, everyone has chores they\u2019d prefer to avoid. Podcasts make those habitual tasks special by activating our brains\u2019 reward chemicals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When we listen to podcasts, our brains go through a neurochemical ballet as we follow the structure we\u2019ve come to expect. Podcasts that rely on structure can be satisfying because the audience knows what mental ritual they\u2019ll go through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Robin Landau and Catherine Templar Lewis of Kinda Studios said, \u201c[Dopamine is] the reward chemical that we give ourselves to reward ourselves often for learning something new\u2026 our brains love the pattern of it, and they release all this dopamine, which tells us that we’ve worked this story out\u2026and that dopamine actually can be part of the reason it spurs us to action because it motivates us to act on what we’ve heard.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n When we add a podcast, our run-of-the-mill daily activities become more exciting. Washing dishes or walking the dog becomes an adventure, and we feel energized as a result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another way podcasts affect the brain is by making listeners less tolerant of unclear audio. Gen X and older may be used to listening to news through radio static. The cracks and pops of a treasured vinyl record may make a song more nostalgic. Digital audio, though, doesn\u2019t compete with electronic activity or scratches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As we\u2019ve learned so far, listening to a podcast is like inviting a guest into your home. We relax and open up to a new experience presented in a familiar way. This takes a lot of trust. When that guest comes with baggage, we feel drained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Is it any wonder that poor audio quality can kill a podcast? <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to a 2018 study by USC and the Australian National University, the quality of audio influences whether you believe what you hear<\/a>. Program director Norbert Schwarz summarized, \u201cWhen you make it difficult for people to process information, it becomes less credible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Study participants listened to two-to-three-minute interviews from NPR’s Science Friday with altered sound quality. Co-author Eryn Newman said, \u201cAs soon as we reduced the audio quality, all of a sudden, the scientists and their research lost credibility.\u201d Newman and Schwarz found that as soon as material required extra effort on the part of the participants, they trusted it less. Respondents rated clear information as more reliable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, the brain wants to preserve energy and spends more effort filtering out contradictory stimuli. So, when the audio medium presents the smallest obstacle, audiences are more likely to reject it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite claims that video podcasts are the way of the future, user data indicates that video podcasts aren’t replacing audio<\/a>, and are unlikely to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A study by University College London, sponsored by Audible UK<\/a>, found that our bodies react more to audio alone than video and audio together. Researchers made study participants watch part of a movie or television version of a well-known story and listen to an audiobook version of the same part of that story. Study participants said they felt video had more impact. But their physiological responses told a different tale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While watching video or listening to audio, the study participants wore wrist sensors to measure their heart rates, electrodermal activity, and body temperature. All these physiological responses rose while the participants listened solely to audio. But, the responses weren’t significant while watching and listening at the same time. <\/p>\n\n\n According to the abstract<\/a>, \u201cWe interpret these findings as evidence that the stories were more cognitively and emotionally engaging at a physiological level when presented in an auditory format. This may be because listening to a story, rather than watching a video, is a more active process of co-creation.\u201d Recall the \u201chandsome prince\u201d example mentioned earlier, and how memory and experience provide context. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In sum, consuming video and audio together is a more passive experience. Audio alone is more active. <\/p>\n\n\n 3D Audio: The Immersion of Binaural Sound<\/p>\n\n Read article called: 3D Audio: The Immersion of Binaural Sound<\/span><\/a>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n What do podcasts do for your brain? To recap, podcasts can:<\/p>\n\n\n\nSound, Context, and Emotion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.thepodcasthost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/A_brain_wearing_headphones-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nLong-Form Audio Uniquely Commands Attention<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Podcasts Help You Focus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Podcasts Prompt or Trigger Mental Imagery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Podcasts Encourage Relationships<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Conversation and Connection or Parasocial Relationships<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Podcast Availability and Audience Choice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Podcasts Can Explain at the Audience’s Pace<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Podcasts Can Become Rituals Via Habit Stacking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Podcasts\u2019 Big Risk: Audio Quality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Okay, Hotshot, What About Video?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"what](\"https:\/\/www.thepodcasthost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/What-is-3D-Audio-img-150x150.jpg\"\n)
\n\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\n How You Can Make Your Podcast More Stimulating<\/h2>\n\n\n\n