Brain and Behavior- How Do We Process the World Around Us? Spring 2024

1. Introduction to data collection and methods. During this class, we’ll cover how scientists use different tools like MRI to capture what is happening in the brain and we will also do some hands-on behavioral experiments just like they are done in the laboratory. The goal of this class is to set the groundwork for future classes and I will also emphasize how we can make experiments that are done in the lab to be more like “real life”
2. Visual system I. How do we come to know that a face is a face, a letter is a letter, and so on?
3. Vision II. What is the role of prior knowledge? How does our knowledge and experience with the world influence our perception and how we see the world?
4. Memory. What parts of our brain are involved in memory? How do those get disrupted? How do two people with the same experience remember it differently? Why is memory subjective? How subjective is it?
5. Language and social knowledge. How do we acquire language? How do we process social information? How have our brains adapted to better process social information? How may this go awry in psychiatric disorders?