COMP 47230: Brains and Cognitive Neuroscience

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There are 11 videos in this sequence

Video 1: And so we finally get to brains. Let’s start by reminding ourselves of the puzzle we face.

Video 2: Before we rush off and attribute functions to an innocent brain, we ought to discuss what the word “function” means.

Video 3: We introduce the Neuron Doctrine as it emerged in 1906.

Video 4: Moving to the mid 20th Century, we follow the mathematical/logical interpretation of the neuron introduced by Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts.

Video 5: We return to the vexed question of “function” with a look at the now discredited field of phrenology, and the implications for contemporary neuroscience with its imaging technologies.

Video 6: What can we learn from studies of pathologies, and from animals? It depends….

Video 7: Here we look at the study of brain anatomy, looking at magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and mapping brain connectivity with diffusion spectrum imaging and diffusion tensor imaging.

Video 8: The first imaging technique we look at is also the oldest: EEG, or electroencephalogram recording. We also briefly look at NIRS (Near Infra Red Spectroscopy) and the opportunity of hyperscanning.

Video 9: We meet fMRI, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Video 10: In which we look at the topic of mirror neurons and the excitement they caused in some circles.

Video 11: Finally, we look at the spindle cell neuron, which is identified on morphological, rather than functional, grounds, and which poses an intriguing question when it apparently appears as the outcome of convergent evolution in 3 separate lineages.