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Cognitive Neuroscience

Cognitive Neuroscience. Aims to understand “how the functions of the physical brain can yield the thoughts and ideas of an intangible mind” Term coined in late 1970s Bridging of cognitive psychology/science and neuroscience/biology Gazzaniga describes it best…. Cognitive Neuroscience.

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Cognitive Neuroscience

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  1. Cognitive Neuroscience • Aims to understand “how the functions of the physical brain can yield the thoughts and ideas of an intangible mind” • Term coined in late 1970s • Bridging of cognitive psychology/science and neuroscience/biology • Gazzaniga describes it best…

  2. Cognitive Neuroscience

  3. Cognitive Neuroscience • Two disciplines need each other • Cognitive psychologists can find physical evidence for theoretical structures of the mind • Neuroscientists can relate their findings to comprehensive models of cognition

  4. Need Neuroscience • Provides constraints for theories of cognition • Must be able to be implemented by the brain • Can help to reconcile theories with equal behavioral support • Can provide insight to why information is processed in a particular way

  5. Need Psychology • Psychology provides comprehensive theories of human cognition/mind • New techniques for examining the normal human brain at work allow neuroscientists to address questions about the mind • Neuroscientists can build on theories about the mind that already exist in psychology

  6. A Brief History… • Aristotle (384 – 322 BCE) • Noted that ratio of brain to body size was greater in more intellectually advanced species, such as humans, than in less intellectually advanced species • But thought cognition was in the heart and the brain was a cooling system (the higher the intellect, the larger cooling system needed)

  7. A Brief History… • Galen (129 – 199 AD) • Observed injuries in gladiators and noted that nerves project to and from the brain • But he thought cognition was in the ventricles of the brain, rather than the tissue

  8. A Brief History… • Galen (129 – 199 AD) • Observed injuries in gladiators and noted that nerves project to and from the brain • But he thought cognition was in the ventricles of the brain, rather than the tissue • Vesalius (1514 – 1564), father of modern anatomy, endorsed this perspective implicitly in his brain drawings • Ventricles drawn with detail compared to cortex

  9. Vesalius (1514 – 1564)

  10. A Brief History… • Willis (1621 – 1675) • Linked specific brain damage to specific behavioral deficits • Autopsied patients after death to examine how differences in their brains might have related to differences in the behaviors and diseases he monitored during their lives

  11. A Brief History… • Phrenology (1800 – 1850) • Examined bumps on skull • High-level functions localized in specific areas

  12. The Psychograph

  13. A Brief History… • Phrenology (1800 – 1850) • Examined bumps on skull • High-level functions localized in specific areas • Controversial • Not scientific • Flourens’ aggregate field theory • The whole brain participates in behavior, there are no specific functions in specific brain regions

  14. Daniel Gilbert • Psychology professor from Harvard University • Stumbling on Happiness(2007) • Affective forecasting • Convocation speaker • 11:30 am, Thursday, 9/4 • Alumni Gym, Leonard Center

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