Two leading neuroscientists, Professor Semir Zeki and Professor Atsushi Iriki, will examine curious connections between the 650-year-old tradition of Noh and the mechanisms of our brain.

‘Since so much in Noh performance is left to the imagination, which is a mental activity produced by the brain, I have decided to supplement what is on stage with lighting that will produce a visible, sensory counterpart – coloured shadows – which is also produced by the brain.’ Professor Semir Zeki, a pioneer of neuroesthetics will speak about the objectivity of subjective state and will illustrate this using the coloured shadow illusions in collaboration with Noh performers.

Professor Atsushi Iriki will examine evidence-based speculations in light of his recent research on how we acquired the concept of the ‘meta-self’ (a third-person sense of our own existence) in relation to Riken-no-ken (a form of self-analysis used by Noh performers) and how we visualise illusions as realistic entities in Noh performances.

‘You are making reality up in a way. I mean, the only reality you can experience is what the brain allows you to experience.’ Watch the full interview with Professor Semir Zeki.

Listen to a talk given by Professor Atsushi Iriki on cognition and social neuroscience at the Brain Science Institute in Japan.