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This course offers an introduction to the basic anatomy and physiology of the brain and explores how brain activity underlies cognitive, emotional, and social behaviors. Evaluating methodology will help you become a better consumer of media reports.
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Dr. Ines Segert • Jake Womick • Syllabus Website: faculty.missouri.edu/segerti/2210
Text • Bob Garrett, Brain & Behavior, 4th Ed. • Good introduction to material
Course Overview • Exploration of how brain activity underlies cognitive, emotional, and social behaviors • Introduction to basic anatomy and physiology of brain • Evaluation of methodology: Make you a better consumer of media reports
Classroom Guidelines • Try to be on time • Try not to leave before the end of lecture so as not to distract others. • Be courteous • Please turn off cell phones, iPods, etc. during class.
Basics • Grading: • 3 Exams • 135 points each • MC & T/F • Attendance/Notes • Study Strategies
“This class requires too much attention & comprehension” -comment on student evaluation form
Summary • Come to class • Listen and ask questions, don’t just transcribe word for word • Quiz yourself, using list of terms on syllabus & resources available with Text • Try going without your computer
Course Theme The mind is what the brain does
“I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendage” A.C. Doyle, 1921
Inaccurate Interpretation “Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul's resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger. Great emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital resources are than we had supposed.” -1906
2. Left Brain vs. Right Brain • When he discussed interrogations with me, he spoke like a student of cognitive science. “It’s all right-brain, left-brain,” he said. “When someone is recalling something, they look left. But when they’re creating an answer they look right.” He claimed that people who spoke with their hands near their mouths were acting suspiciously, and theorized that “when someone’s tapping their leg you can see that if they had full movement they would be running away.”
BRAIN GAMES: LEFT VS. RIGHT Premieres Monday, Jan. 19 at 9:30 PM ET/PT In this episode, we're singling out the two halves that make up the whole brain, to discover how the two sides operate, what they really control, and whether or not one side of your brain dominates the other. We're going to put you through a series of games and experiments to find out if there's any Science behind the notion that your left brain is more creative while the right brain is more logical. First, we'll show you an illusion of the Leaning Tower of Pisa that's sure to have your brain seeing things. Then you'll take a simple quiz designed to test if you're more right-brained or left-brained. You'll play an interactive game at home designed to test not only your logic and creativity ... but your rhyming skills, as well. Next, host Jason Silva, with some live musical accompaniment, will show you how your left and right brain can sometimes cross wires, creating some compromising body positions. Then you'll play along with our volunteers as they try to make illogical one-syllable words into a common phrase. Finally, we'll show you how hard it is to name 20 animals when the words and pictures don't match up.
Statement from 30 Neuroscientists • It is customary for advertising to highlight the benefits and overstate potential advantages of their products. In the brain-game market, however, advertisements also assure consumers that claims and promises are based on solid scientific evidence, as the games are “designed by neuroscientists” at top universities and research centers. These claims are reinforced through paid advertising and distributed by trusted news sources. Thus, a group of cognitive scientists and neuroscientists felt obliged to issue a direct statement to the public: The strong consensus of this group is that the scientific literature does not support claims that the use of software-based “brain games” alters neural functioning in ways that improve general cognitive performance in everyday life, or prevent cognitive slowing and brain disease. Much more research is needed before firm conclusions on these issues can be drawn. To quote the summary statement:
How research is misrepresented • UlmanLindenberger, a director at the Max Planck Institute, recently published a study that found that 100 days of cognitive training yielded a “relatively minor” improvement in working memory. • Soon afterward, a German brain-training firm cited his paper on its website, despite the lack of any connection between his research and its product. The company even appropriated the Max Planck logo.
Science or Fiction?? Inception
Science or Fiction??? Eternal Sunshine
