Kwabena Boahen Stanford University Neurogrid: Emulating a million neurons in the cortex on: California Insitute for Telecommunications, the Science Network Impressive project to model the human brain with a custom VLSI architecture that emulates neurons.
Brain Damage, Smoking Habits Linked on: Discovery Channel A small study of stroke victims shows how damage to a certain section of the brain could actually help people kick their cigarette habits.
Daniel Dennett Tufts University Interview on: Slate Daniel C. Dennett is University Professor and Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University.
Michael Shermer Skeptics Society Why People Believe Weird Things on: TEDtalks Michael Shermer is the founder/publisher of Skeptic Magazine, and author of several books, including Why People Believe Weird Things. (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 17:29)
Antonio Damasio University of Southern California Advances on the Neurobiology of Emotion: Taking Stock on: Princeton The field that eventually became neuroscience neglected the study of emotion for almost a century, largely after the proposals of William James lost favor. It is worth considering some of the reasons behind that neglect and evaluating the state of our knowledge today, a decade after emotion returned to the neuroscience agenda. Besides elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying several emotions, the new research is having an impact on our understanding of social phenomena ranging from moral behavior to economic decisions.
Robert Barlow State University of New York Human Blindness: How Horseshoe Crabs May Lead to Cures on: WGBH Forum Horseshoe crab eyes have told us a great deal about how we see. Their ability to see better at night is a remarkable property we do not possess.
Jamie Ward University College London Synaesthesia on: sciencelive Liz Connor talks to Jamie Ward, psychology lecturer from University College London, about synaesthesia, a condition that leads to a peculiar mixing up of the senses. Because of the way their brains are wired, people with synaesthesia find shapes and colour in music, aromas in pictures and symphanies in works of art. Many famous artists have been diagnosed with synaesthesia but is it the cause of creativity? Can it be learnt? Is there such a thing as a perfect piece of art? They discuss these questions and many more.
NOVA ScienceNow: Mirror Neurons on: WGBH A recently discovered system in the brain may help explain why we humans can get so worked up watching other people.
Michael Feuer NRC Cognitive Science and the Science of Education Policy on: WGBH Forum Michael J. Feuer, PhD of the National Research Council presents the final in a series of three lectures that examine the links between cognitive science and the science of education policy as a means of developing more rational programs of educational improvement and more reasonable expectations for reform and research.
Einstein's brain: The search for genius on: sciencelive Jim Al-Khali and Mark Lythgoe take us on a road trip to California in search of Einstein's brain. But will getting hold of his brain really solve the mystery of his genius? Jim and Mark have some different ideas about genius which they share with us here. This lecture is part of the BA Physics and Astronomy Section webcasting programme at the BA Festival 2005.
Pietro Perona California Institute of Technology Pietro Perona: The Emergence of Visual Categories: A Computational Perspective on: Caltech Pietro Perona, Professor of Electrical Engineering; Director for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering, Caltech presented this lecture as part of the 9th Annual Industry Day, sponsored by the NSF Center for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering at Caltech.
Michael Feuer NRC The Future of Education Research and Policy on: WGBH Forum Michael J. Feuer, PhD of the National Research Council presents the second in a series of three lectures that examine the links between cognitive science and the science of education policy as a means of developing more rational programs of educational improvement and more reasonable expectations for reform and research.
Christof Koch California Institute of Technology The Quest for Consciousness on: Caltech In a Watson lecture, Christof Koch, Troendle Professor of Cognitive and Behavioral Biology, discussed the tantalizing possibility that we are getting closer to understanding the relationship between the conscious mind and the brain, focusing on the approach that he and Francis Crick have taken to find and characterize the neuronal correlates of consciousness in mice, monkeys, and humans.
Cracking the real daVinci code on: sciencelive Liz talks to Prof. John Onians from the School of World Art Studies at the University of East Anglier - the first neuro-art historian in history. He shares his theory for how neuroscience solves some of the major art history mysteries. Why were the prehistoric cave drawings more life-like than drawings for thousands of years to come? Why does the style of painting change from era to era when the world looks much the same? How do our brains shape our art? What makes an artists brain different from a lawyer's, a banker's or a scientist's? Neuroscience goes places where art history has never had access before and both disciplines are richer for the meeting.
Cynthia Breazeal Massachusetts Institute of Technology NOVA ScienceNow: Profile - Cynthia Breazeal on: WGBH A daring engineer designs robots to communicate and interact the way people do.
The case of the four-legged duck: Investigations of concepts and meaning on: sciencelive Scientists and philosophers have always been fascinated by the nature of concepts and how these are represented in the mind.Modern science,in the form of cognitive neuroscience,offers us a setof converging methods through which we are beginning to understand both where and how the brain represents concepts and meanings.
Paul H. Patterson California Institute of Technology Paul Patterson: Can One Make a Mouse Model of Mental Illness, and Why Try? on: Caltech In a Watson lecture, Biaggini Professor of Biological Sciences Paul Patterson described modeling aspects of mental illnesses in mice based on a known risk factor for schizophrenia and autism--namely, that viral infection in pregnant women increases the incidence of these disorders in their offspring. The finding that respiratory infection of the mother can alter fetal brain development was discussed, as well as the implications for prevention and therapy.
Ray Kurzweil inventor, writer Our Bodies, Our Technologies on: WGBH Forum How close are we to a world in which the abilities of machines are indistinguishable from those of the species that invented them?
V.S. Ramachandran UCSD The Uniqueness of the Human Brain on: Google Video Lecture 6 of 12 of IBM Research's Almaden Institute Conference on Cognitive Computing
Paul Greengard Rockefeller University Signal Transduction in the Brain on: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Paul Greengard, Ph.D., Vincent Astor Professor of Molecular and Cellular Neurosciences at Rockefeller University and winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in communication between nerve cells, talks about current understanding of the complex biochemistry of signal transduction in the brain. He discusses the implications of his ongoing work in the potential for novel pharmaceutical treatments of various neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Ray Kurzweil Inventor The Singularity is Near on: TEDtalks Inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil is author of The Age of Spiritual Machines, and The Singularity is Near: When humans transcend biology. (Recorded February 2005 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 23:41)
