Lecture Notes: The Human Brain (9.13) - Nancy Camwisher

Introduction

• Course Overview: 913 Human Brain by Nancy Camwisher
  • Course agenda includes a story related to the human brain, course mechanics, and details.

Story About Bob

• Main Theme: Story highlights medical, psychological, and neurological aspects.

  • Bob, a close friend, experienced a medical emergency.
  • Incident involved Bob collapsing and subsequent hospital visit.
  • EMT and hospital found nothing initially wrong.
  • Memories of Bob's navigational deficits raised concerns.

• Key points:

  • Past signs of Bob's navigational issues.
  • Personal anecdotes of Bob getting easily lost and giving wrong directions.
  • Concerns about early Alzheimer's due to navigational deficits.
  • Nancy's realization that different brain functions can be impaired independently.

• Hospital Discoveries:

  • ER check revealed a lime-sized tumor in Bob's brain, affecting navigation.
  • Comparison with past brain scans showed the tumor grew slowly over years.

• Surgical Intervention and Outcome:

  • Successful surgery by top neurosurgeon.
  • Post-surgery, Bob’s IQ and many mental abilities intact but navigational skills did not recover.
  • Bob relies on GPS due to persistent navigational deficits.

• Testing Mental Abilities:

  • Tests showed specific brain function loss (navigation) but other skills remained (e.g., drawing objects).

Course Themes

1. Brain Organization: Structure and Function

• Different brain parts have specific roles.
• Specific mental functions can be lost without affecting general intelligence.

2. Specialized Regions in the Brain

• Highly specific functions in some areas (e.g., para-hippocampal place area for navigation).

3. Brain and Mind Relationship

• Brain’s physical structure underpins various mental processes.
• Study of physical brain helps understand the mind.

4. Recovery and Plasticity in Brain Function

• Recovery depends on age; children have more plasticity than adults.

5. Diverse Research Methods

• Behavioral observations, anatomical brain imaging, functional imaging, and neuropsychological testing.

Why Study the Brain?

1. To Know Ourselves

• Brain as the core of identity and consciousness.
• Example: Heart transplants change, but brain transplants are infeasible as they change identity.

2. Understand Limits of Human Knowledge

• Understanding human cognition and limitations aids epistemology.

3. Advance AI

• AI is progressing rapidly (e.g., deep learning) but still has gaps compared to human cognition.
• Examples: AlexNet’s successes and errors in object recognition.

4. Greatest Intellectual Quest

• Ultimate understanding of brain equates to understanding the mind, viewed as a profound scientific pursuit.

How to Study the Brain?

• Levels of Organization: Molecules, neurons, circuits, brain regions, and networks.
• Focus of Course: How brain gives rise to mind. Cognitive science, psychophysics, perceptual illusions.

Methods in Cognitive Neuroscience

• Neuropsychology: Studying patients with brain damage (e.g., Bob).
• Functional MRI and EEG: Imaging and electrical activity research.

Course Topics

• Domains: High-level vision, navigation, development, blindness effects, numbers, neuroeconomics, perception, language, theory of mind.
• Specialized Brain Functions: High-level visual and auditory processing.

Lecture Structure

• Start with Basic Neuroanatomy.

  • Special brain dissection event.

• High-Level Vision Topics:

  • Perception of motion, color, shape, faces, scenes, bodies.

• Scene Perception and Navigation

  • Methods to study (brain damage, MRI, animal studies).

• Brain Development:

  • How specializations form, focus on navigation and face systems.

• Blindness Effects:

  • Differences and similarities in brain functions of blind people.

• Advanced Mental Functions:

  • Numerical cognition, neuroeconomics, language, theory of mind, brain networks.

Course Requirements and Grading

• Midterm and Final Exams:

  • Midterm: 25%
  • Final: 25% (cumulative but weighted to second half)

• Reading and Writing Assignments:

  • About two papers per week.
  • Brief written assignments to understand papers.

• Quizzes:

  • Approx. 8 quizzes in class via Google Forms.

• Longer Written Assignment:

  • Design an experiment, more details later.

No Textbook:

• Original research papers used.

Learning Objectives

• Understand Big Questions:

  • Questions and theoretical stakes in cognitive neuroscience.

• Appreciate Methods:

  • Understand what each method reveals and its limitations.

• Read and Interpret Research Papers:

  • Learn to read, understand, and interpret current scientific papers effectively.