The four-day HEAR Now Festival returns to Kansas City to celebrate storytelling in all forms. Leading off Thursday evening: a discussion of Perception and Storytelling by renowned neuroscientist Beau Lotto, who specializes in the biology and psychology of perception.

Lotto is a neuroscience professor at the University of London and visiting scholar at New York University. He’s also the founder and CEO of a New York-based “experiential research lab,” the Lab of Misfits.