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Education: a lifelong challenge for the brain. Brain Awareness Week European Parliament, Brussels 15 March 2011. Colin Blakemore University of Oxford. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRIB Centre, Oxford). Basic organization of the brain in largely genetically determined. S1 S2
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Education: a lifelong challenge for the brain Brain Awareness Week European Parliament, Brussels 15 March 2011 Colin Blakemore University of Oxford
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRIB Centre, Oxford)
Basic organization of the brain in largely genetically determined
S1 S2 A1 V1 V2 Expansion of the cortex during evolution has generated space for additional specialized areas Krubitzer, L & Kahn, DM (2003) Prog Neurobiol
The exceptional brain of modern humans Homo sapiens Encephalization Quotient ● Old World monkeys □ New World monkeys + Apes Hominids: 1 aferensis 2 africanus 3 boisei 4 robustus 5 habilis 6 erectus Martin, RD (1984) Body size, brain size and feeding strategies
Big brains are clever brains... ...but not without knowledge and experience
Humans have the capacity to reflect on the past and anticipate the future... ...sometimes
Primary areas for sensation and movement Movement Touch Hearing Vision
… and for spoken language Broca’s area Wernicke’s area
V5/MT V1, V2 Separate processing of form and motion
Faces Objects Objects (parahippocampal gyrus) Faces (fusiform gyrus) Face-selective and object-selective areas
Verbs Visual Contrast & Form Colin Clifford, University of Sydney Bedny, M et al. (2008) J Neurosci. 28: 11347
David Hubel & Torsten Wiesel
Activity-dependent plasticity in sensory cortex Blakemore, C & Cooper, GF (1970) Nature 228: 477 Sengpiel, F et al (1999) Nature Neurosci 2: 727
mGluR5 PLCβ1 mGluR5 knockout PLC-β1 knockout Cortical cells Control Control Hannan, AJ et al (2001) Nature Neurosci 4: 282
Learning to navigate Eleanor Maguire, UCL
VISUAL MOTION TACTILEMOTION VIEWING FACES TOUCHING FACES NORMAL, SIGHTED LATE-ONSET BLIND Goyal, MS et al (2006) NeuroReport 17: 1381 Touch takes over visual areas in the blind
THERAPY Changes in the brain after stroke Using normal hand Additional areas of brain activity Using affected hand Johansen-Berg, H, Matthews, PM et al, FMRIB Centre, Oxford
Changing the proportion of stem cells re-entering the cell cycle Chenn, A & Walsh, CA (2002) Science 297; 365 Reducing cell death Kuida, K et al (1998) Cell 94: 325 Mutations make mice with big brains