Rufus Wainright on scientists
"[S]cientists have become the new oppressed people, and I'm always there for the oppressed."
-Rufus Wainwright, quoted in Nature
So speaks the Canadian-American singer-songwriter, who headlined recently at "Rock-it Science", a charity event held in Manhattan to raise money for neurological disorders involving sensory processing – even though he said he failed every science class he ever took.
As reported by Roxanne Khamsi, the concert was co-organized by Joseph LeDeux, a professor at New York University who studies the biological basis of emotional memories, especially those laid down in dangerous situations. LeDeux also took part in the concert itself with his band, The Amygdaloids (after the amygdala, which is the seat of emotional memory in the brain), whose original numbers are inspired by LeDeux's research topic. Alongside professional musicians like Wainwright, other scientists took part in the show including a cognitive psychiatrist, a geneticist and a neuroscientist.
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