The NYU Center for Mind, Brain & Consciousness hosts presentations, including topical debates among leading neuroscience researchers. Many of the sessions are recorded for later viewing. The upcoming debate among Joseph LeDoux (Center for Neural Science, NYU), Yaïr Pinto (Psychology, University of Amsterdam), and Elizabeth Schechter (Philosophy, Washington University in St. Louis), will tackle the question, “Do Split-brain patients have two minds?” Previous topics addressed animal consciousness, hierarchical predictive coding and perception, AI ‘machinery,’ AI ethics, unconscious perception, research replication issues, neuroscience and art, explanatory power of mirror neurons, child vs adult learning, and brain-mapping initiatives.
Tag Archives: neuroplasticity
Can children learn to read without explicit instruction from adults?
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An experiment in a remote Ethiopian village demonstrates the potential of mobile devices to enable children to learn and teach each other how to read without traditional schooling.
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See also: How Reading Rewires Your Brain for Empathy
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The evolutionary and present significance of reading
In her new book, Reader Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World, author Maryanne Wolf explores how reading affects the brain and mind. What different effects result from consuming digital media rather than print media and long forms rather than tweets, posts, and other microcontent? In her excellent recent article, she says,
Will new readers develop the more time-demanding cognitive processes nurtured by print-based mediums as they absorb and acquire new cognitive capacities emphasized by digital media? For example, will the combination of reading on digital formats and daily immersion in a variety of digital experiences — from social media to virtual games — impede the formation of the slower cognitive processes, such as critical thinking, personal reflection, imagination, and empathy, that are all part of deep reading?
Wolf first addressed the evolution of reading and its implications in her earlier book, Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. She summarizes her thesis in this interview (14 min video).
Stanislas Dehaene, an author whose work we’ve discussed, also investigated the brain circuits involved in reading. Hear him speak on the topic in this video (33 min).
A personal testimony to neuroplasticity
A member of one of my online writing communities posted this interesting personal article on his recovery following a serious concussion. This quick read illustrates the subjective experience of being aware your brain is malfunctioning and witnessing recovery from the inside.
Future discussion topic recommendations
Several of us met on Labor Day with the goal of identifying topics for at least five future monthly meetings. (Thanks, Dave N, for hosting!) Being the overachievers we are, we pushed beyond the goal. Following are the resulting topics, which will each have its own article on this site where we can begin organizing references for the discussion:
- sex-related influences on emotional memory
- gross and subtle brain differences (e.g., “walls of the third ventricle – sexual nuclei”)
- “Are there gender-based brain differences that influence differences in perceptions and experience?”
- epigenetic factors (may need an overview of epigenetics)
- embodied cognition
- computational grounded cognition (possibly the overview and lead-in topic)
- neuro-reductionist theory vs. enacted theory of mind
- “Could embodied cognition influence brain differences?” (Whoever suggested this, please clarify.)
- brain-gut connection (relates to embodied cognition, but can stand on its own as a topic)
- behavioral priming and subliminal stimuli (effects on later behavior)
- incremental theory – “The Dark Side of Malleability”
- creative flow as a unique cognitive process
- Eastern philosophies and psychology – a psychology of self-cultivation
- neuroscience of empathy – effects on the brain, including on neuroplasticity (discussed October 2017)
- comparative effects of various meditative practices on the brain
- comparative effects of various psychedelics on the brain
- effects of childhood poverty on the brain
- neurocognitive bases of racism
If I missed anything, please edit the list (I used HTML in the ‘Text’ view to get sub-bullets). If you’re worried about the formatting, you can email your edits to cogniphile@albuquirky.net and Mark will post your changes.
Mass and activity of brain structures correlate with political perspectives
Brain imaging research indicates some aspects of individual political orientation correlate significantly with the mass and activity of particular brain structures including the right amygdala and the insula. This correlation may derive in part from genetics, but is also influenced by environment and behavior.
“there’s a critical nuance here. Schreiber thinks the current research suggests not only that having a particular brain influences your political views, but also that having a particular political view influences and changes your brain. The causal arrow seems likely to run in both directions—which would make sense in light of what we know about the plasticity of the brain. Simply by living our lives, we change our brains. Our political affiliations, and the lifestyles that go along with them, probably condition many such changes.”
Thanks to member, Edward, for recommending this article: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/brain-difference-democrats-republicans
In a similar vein, Bob Altemeyer conducted and reported on some seminal social science research and theory on political dispositions. See http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/. Note the free book link on the left.
Neuroplasticity at the neuron and synapse level – Neurons sort into functional networks
“Until recently, scientists had thought that most synapses of a similar type and in a similar location in the brain behaved in a similar fashion with respect to how experience induces plasticity,” Friedlander said. “In our work, however, we found dramatic differences in the plasticity response, even between neighboring synapses in response to identical activity experiences.”
…
“Individual neurons whose synapses are most likely to strengthen in response to a certain experience are more likely to connect to certain partner neurons, while those whose synapses weaken in response to a similar experience are more likely to connect to other partner neurons,” Friedlander said. “The neurons whose synapses do not change at all in response to that same experience are more likely to connect to yet other partner neurons, forming a more stable but non-plastic network.”
Read more at: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-02-scientists-brain-plasticity-assorted-functional.html#jCp