The Human Brain - Course Introduction

Instructor and Course Overview

Instructor: Nancy Kanwisher
Course: 9.13 The Human Brain
Agenda for Today's Class:
- Story about a medical situation highlighting various themes on the brain
- Discussion on why, how, and what of studying the human brain
- Course mechanics, grading, and details
- Introduction to key topics and methods in the course

Brief Story: Medical situation of a friend named Bob
Themes Covered in Story:
- Nature of the human mind
- Organization of the human brain
- Recovery after brain damage
- Resilience, Privilege, Expertise
Incident: Bob found unconscious with subsequent diagnosis
- Ambulance and ER: Immediate medical attention; initial tests inconclusive
- Symptoms Noticed Earlier: Navigation issues (getting lost, difficulty giving directions)
- ER Analysis: Recommended brain check; discovery of a meningioma
- **Tumor Details: Size of a lime located in a critical region affecting navigation; grew slowly
Surgery and Outcome: Successful removal but navigational skills did not recover
Testing of Abilities: Specific deficit in spatial navigation but other cognitive abilities intact

Brain Organization: Different parts of the brain have specific functions
Specificity of Functions: Some brain functions are highly localized
Brain’s Hardware Echoing Mind’s Architecture: Importance of specialized brain machinery
Recovery after Brain Damage: Varies based on age; better in children
Methods of Brain Study:
- Behavioral observations
- Anatomical and functional imaging
- Studies on patients with brain damage

Know Thyself: Understanding the organ that defines identity
Understanding Knowledge Limits: Knowing how minds work to understand human knowledge limits
Advancing AI: Bridging the gap between human cognitive abilities and artificial intelligence
- Deep Nets Revolution: Notable advances but limitations still exist
Great Intellectual Quest: Understanding the most complex organ, considered the greatest intellectual challenge

Levels of Organization: Molecules, neurons, circuits, brain regions, networks
Core Question: How does the brain give rise to the mind?
Methods in Cognitive Science:
- Psychophysics
- Perceptual Illusions
- Neuropsychology (studies on patients)
- Functional MRI, EEG, Meg, diffusion tractography, etc.

Initial Focus: High-level vision (perception of shapes, faces, scenes, etc.)
- Scene perception and navigation
Development and Brain Changes: Role of development, childhood vs. adult brain plasticity
Specialized Mental Functions: Covering different cognitive abilities and their brain bases
- Color, shape, and motion perception
- Recognition (faces, scenes, bodies, words)
- Navigation, number understanding, speech, music, language processing
Unique Human Abilities: Theory of mind, social cognition, human-specific cognitive functions
Practical Applications: Neuroscience methods and their applications in real research

**Grading Breakdown:midterm (25%), final (25%), reading and writing assignments, quizzes, long written assignment