Human Brain Lecture by Prof. Nancy Kanwisher

Jul 7, 2024

Lecture Notes: Human Brain Lecture by Prof. Nancy Kanwisher

Overview

  • Course Title: 9.13 The Human Brain
  • Professor: Nancy Kanwisher
  • Main Focus: Studying the human brain's functionality, structure, and the mechanisms underlying different cognitive processes.

Lecture Plan

  1. Brief introductory story (~10 minutes)
  2. Discussion of the why, how, and what of studying the human brain
  3. Course mechanics, syllabus details, grading criteria

Introductory Story Themes

  • Themes Covered: Nature of the human mind, brain organization, impact, and recovery post-brain damage
  • Other Themes: Resilience, privilege, expertise

Story Details

  • Setting: Cambridge, en route to a conference
  • Characters: Prof. Kanwisher and her friend "Bob"
  • Incident: Bob collapses, Prof. Kanwisher calls 911, initial confusion, ER visit
  • Key Medical Discovery: Large lime-sized mass in Bob's brain (meningioma) discovered, linked with navigational deficits.
  • Outcome: Surgery performed successfully by top neurosurgeons. Bob's navigational abilities did not recover, relying on iPhone GPS for navigation.
  • Scientific Insight: Different parts of the brain handle specific functions.

Key Themes from the Story

  1. Brain Structure and Function: Specialized regions in the brain responsible for distinct mental abilities (e.g., face recognition, navigation, language processing, etc.).
  2. Specificity of Brain Functions: The brain has highly specialized areas for different cognitive tasks. E.g., para-hippocampal place area involved in navigation.
  3. Mental & Brain Organization: Brain structures mirror mental processes, helping us understand cognitive abilities by examining the brain.
  4. Brain Plasticity & Recovery: Limited recovery in adults after damage, contrasting with higher plasticity in children.
  5. Methods of Brain Study: Behavioral observations, anatomical and functional brain imaging, neuropsychological assessments, and multiple specialized experimental methods.

Why Study The Brain

  1. Self-Knowledge: Understanding the brain reveals our identity and cognitive capabilities.
  2. Limits of Human Knowledge: Studying the brain helps define the limits of our understanding and capabilities.
  3. Advancing AI: By understanding human cognition, we can improve AI systems. AI advancements have significantly benefited from cognitive science insights but still fall short in areas like abstract image understanding.
  4. Intellectual Quest: It represents the greatest intellectual endeavor to understand the mind and brain and their relationship.

Methods of Brain Study

  • Hierarchy in Study: Molecules, neurons, circuits, brain regions, networks
  • Cognitive Neuroscience Focus: Linking mental functions to brain regions to understand how the brain gives rise to the mind.

Course Focus Areas

  1. Vision Perception: High-level visual functions including color, shape, motion, faces, places, bodies, and words recognition.
  2. Scene & Navigation Perception: Encompassing cognitive science and neurology (para-hippocampal place area, brain injury studies).
  3. Development: Genetic vs. learned aspects of brain structure and function.
  4. Blindness: Comparing brain organization and function in sighted versus blind individuals.
  5. Number Perception: Cognitive neuroscience of understanding numerical quantities.
  6. Neuroeconomics: Decision-making, reward systems, pleasure, pain.
  7. Human-Specific Cognition: Language, music appreciation, brain-machine interface, theory of mind.
  8. Brain Networks: Understanding networks of interacting brain regions.
  9. Attention & Awareness: Conscious vs. unconscious processing.

Readings and Assignments

  • Reading Load: ~2 papers/week, mix of older foundational papers and recent cutting-edge research.
  • Written Assignments: Short written responses to readings, focusing on understanding rather than memorization.
  • Design Experiment Assignment: Longer written task later in the term, requiring precise hypothesis and experimental design.

Grading Breakdown

  • Midterm & Final Exams: 25% each, final cumulative but weighted towards the second half of the course.
  • Assignments: Frequent short assignments linked to weekly readings.
  • Quizzes: Approximately eight short quizzes throughout the term.

Notable Exclusions

  • Motor Control, Subcortical Function, Circuit Level Mechanisms: Not covered in depth.
  • Memory, Reinforcement Learning, Reward Systems, Attention: Limited coverage due to focus constraints.

Paper Reading Advice

  • Key Aspects to Identify: Research question, findings, interpretation, experimental design, and data analysis.
  • Avoid Overwhelm: Focus on understanding overall logic and key findings rather than detailed experimental procedures or specific statistical methods unless central to the argument.

Conclusion

  • Engagement: Continuous interaction through quizzes, in-class questions, and assignments to gauge understanding and progress.
  • Final Note: Encouragement to appreciate the complexity and ongoing discovery in the field of cognitive neuroscience.