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Distinguished Lecturer Series in Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Distinguished Lecturer Series in Brain and Cognitive Sciences will begin its first season of public lectures by nationally and internationally-recognized researchers on Wednesday, October 5, 2009 beginning at 4pm.

All lectures are free and open to the public and no reservations are necessary, For more information about the Distinguished Lecturer Series, Contact Jieun Esther Shin at +82-2-880-9108.

Speaker Data & Time Title Location
Randolph Blake 10/5 M 4-6pm Living in the 21st Century With a Stone Age Brain Rm320, CTL
Moo K. Chung 10/14 W 4-6pm Computational Challenges in Brain Imaging Mok-am Hall, Bldg 501
Graham Collingridge 10/28 W 4-6pm Molecules of the Mind Rm320, CTL
Inah Lee 11/4 W 4-6pm Unlimited events in a limited space - The hippocampal dilemma Rm320, CTL
Seong-Gi Kim 11/11 W 4:30-6pm Imaging the Brain in the Magnetic Field, a Trailblazer in the World of Mind Mok-am Hall, Bldg 501
Christof Koch 11/18 W 4-6pm The Neurobiology of Consciousness. What do We Know and How Can We Discover More? Rm320, CTL
Min Zhuo 11/25 W 4-6pm Where is my pain? Rm320, CTL


Monday, October 5

Randolph Blake
Brain and Cognitive Sciences, SNU
Vanderbilt University

  • Title: Living in the 21st Century With a Stone Age Brain
  • Time: 4pm
  • Location: Rm 320, Center for Teaching and Learning(CTL) How to get to CTL

The human brain hasn't changed much during the last 5,000 years, yet today we're using our brains in remarkably complex ways never imagined by our remote ancestors. Are there telltale mental signs of our brain's "prehistoric" roots? By demonstrating some of the mind's accomplishments and some of its limitations, I will argue that the answer is "yes." Particular examples will be drawn from visual perception, reasoning, learning and remembering.

Wednesday, October 14

Moo K. Chung
Brain and Cognitive Sciences, SNU
University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • Title: Computational Challenges in Brain Imaging
  • Time: 4pm
  • Location: Mok-am Hall, Bldg. 501

Computational neuroanatomy is an emerging .eld that utilizes various non-invasive brain imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in quantifying the spatiotemporal dynamics of the human brain structures in both normal and clinical populations in macroscopic level. This discipline emerged about twenty years ago and has made substantial progress in the past decade. It usually deals with computational problems arising from the quanti.cation of within- and between-subject variations associated with the structure and the function of the human brain. Major challenges in the .eld are caused by the massive amount of nonstandard high dimensional non-Euclidean imaging data that are difficult to analyze using traditional methods. This requires new computational solutions that incorporates geometric and topological nature of brain structures. Overview of various computational issues in neuroanatomy will be presented with example studies on autism.

Wednesday, October 28

Graham Collingridge
Brain and Cognitive Sciences, SNU
University of Bristol

  • Title: Molecules of the Mind
  • Time: 4pm
  • Location: Rm 320, Center for Teaching and Learning(CTL)

Wednesday, November 4

Inah Lee
Brain and Cognitive Sciences, SNU

  • Title: Unlimited events in a limited space - The hippocampal dilemma
  • Time: 4pm
  • Location: Rm 320, Center for Teaching and Learning(CTL) How to get to CTL

Wednesday, Noverber 11

Seong-Gi Kim
Brain and Cognitive Sciences, SNU
University of Pittsburgh

  • Title: Imaging the Brain in the Magnetic Field, a Trailblazer in the World of Mind
  • Time: 4:30pm
  • Location: Mok-am Hall, Bldg. 501

Wednesday, Noverber 18

Christof Koch
Department of Brain and Cognitive Engineering, KU
California Institute of Technology

  • Title: The Neurobiology of Consciousness. What do We Know and How Can We Discover More?
  • Time: 4pm
  • Location: Rm 320, Center for Teaching and Learning(CTL) How to get to CTL

Half a century ago, many did not think it was possible to understand the secret of life. Then Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA, forever changing biology. We are facing a similar pursuit in determining the material basis of consciousness. How does the unmistakable smell of dogs after they have been in the rain or the awfulness of a throbbing tooth pain emerge from networks of neurons and their associated synaptic processes? I will summarizes what is known about the neurobiology of consciousness, argue that attention is distinct from consciousness, outline the limits to our knowledge, and describe ongoing experiments using visual illusions to manipulate the relationship between physical stimuli and their associated conscious percepts using fMRI and single unit recordings in the human medial temporal lobe. I will conclude by discussing a promising information-theoretical approach to consciousness grounded in circuit complexity

Wednesday, November 25

Min Zhuo
Brain and Cognitive Sciences, SNU

  • Title: Where is my pain?
  • Time: 4pm
  • Location: Rm 320, Center for Teaching and Learning(CTL) How to get to CTL