Nancy Kanwisher: A neural portrait of the human mind

Brain imaging pioneer Nancy Kanwisher, who uses fMRI scans to see activity in brain regions (often her own), shares what she and her colleagues have learned: The brain is made up of both highly specialized components and general-purpose "machinery." Another surprise: There's so much left to learn.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.

[Tina_Bo_Binaaa]

Her lectures at MIT on YouTube are so great. Very easy to follow. It says a lot that someone so smart can explain their topic so that even a 10 year old can understand.

[makhalid]

Her series about the Human Brain on MIT OCW is amazing!

[ShawYew]

The ending took my breath away, it is never just about science, it is about the endless exploration to us as humans.

[why_do_you_care]

huge kudos to the epilepsy patient for articulating his experience so well. I could almost imagine it happening by closing my eyes.

[skzanarchist]

This was recommended after I watched her series on Human Brain at MIT Youtube. Her sense and ways of teaching are really easy to follow

[christianfelipecastro]

That final message it's real motivation... Thank you!

[silverskid]

Re: the epileptic patient and facial recognition system-- Kanwisher says, "So this one result nailed the case. We know now that there's a face recognition system, where it is and how it is causally related to" such and such phenomena (paraphrase..) Sorry, one outcome doesn't "nail" anything, and there is currently a replication crisis in fMRI studies to boot. But even granting many replications, what we get is STILL correlative and not causal knowledge. A stimulus (electricity) elicits response (changes in face perceptions). Just what other variables are at work, and why (causation) are not explained. It's preliminary evidence for a causal hypothesis maybe, but it doesn't nail causation.

[mistermaker]

It would be interesting to see if reading a description of a face activated the region or if imagining a face activated the region. What she says also has implications for artificial intelligence tech. If the brain is just a bunch of different processors that react in the presence of certain stimuli then we just have to create artificial representations of those structures via programs. Then it all just becomes a problem of knowing how to put the pieces together.

[AlphaKingofGlory]

This is how real experts explain the same thing. I’m so grateful that they are here, trust them.

[silverskid]

AT 6:41 Important point, and reason why postulating "modules" for specific functions is always somewhat conjectural. Evidence for visual module is certainly much richer than for cognitive and affective processes b/c it isn't just from fMRIs. Just how many domain-specific modules actually exist (e.g. as outcomes of natural selection or something of that kind) is very hard to say. It's harder still to truly understand how brain structure (where stuff happens) is tied to function (what folks do).

[cfwintner]

Outstanding talk. Nice tohear froma real scientist who appreciates learning for its own sake.

[TheBeachHermit]

My guess is that the colleague who discovered a brain region that liked colour and shapes was on the right lines. It's not that the area (he thought) identifies food but, rather that, as we evolved those patterns were more likely to locate food, as opposed to other things such as predators. Today, we live in an industrial society so the patterns that evolved aren't able to identify cans of Uncle Ben's as food.

[patriciamesquita]

Amazing apresentetion! It´s so important and necessary for people. Thank you.

[Riad_MD]

Great talk and a good ending with that question " who we are ? "

[freyashipley]

This is absolutely fascinating! I wonder if the face-recognition area is doing something that makes us think we see faces where they don't exist, like in the moon. I remember once I was in the hospital with a high fever, and I saw faces in a painting on the wall that was really just showing some cliffs beside the ocean.

[vochnayno]

Next time the frontal lobe (related to personality), there's so many complex thing how our desires made how imaginations made (the rendering are in visual cortex) how random thoughts made etc. There's three layer of personality processing in frontal lobe I think:
1. The most conscious part, responsible for vivid details of feeling and voluntary actions
2. The between of conscious and unconscious, related to how desires are made
3. The unconscious one, responsible to how unintended/sudden random thoughts made based on personal preferences, preconceptions, then later becomes conscious thought. I heard a lecture, said if you think positive about something your brain searches for the positive info unconsciously and otherwise

[prannsheel]

Isn't it a mystery? How the brain is so complex yet so beautiful in its creation, to be able to do such complex tasks. It is indeed mysterious, and nature is that way. Nature is a gem. But we don't act like that. We are busy solving the problem. But the solution is already there.

[mazharulhasan]

MIT Opercourseware's lacture of her is very impressive. How human brain connect synnaps and its application .... very very eye catching.

[luu]

Que bello es nuestro cerebro; tantas cosas por descubrir acerca de él👏👏👏

[td]

Love these videos! I have a son with brain damage and I’m fascinated by what he can and can not do or what he understands and can’t understand