TED: Vilayanur Ramachandran: A journey to the center of your mind

Vilayanur Ramachandran tells us what brain damage can reveal about the connection between celebral tissue and the mind, using three startling delusions as examples.

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilayanur_S._Ramachandran

TED: VS Ramachandran: The neurons that shaped civilization

Neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran outlines the fascinating functions of mirror neurons. Only recently discovered, these neurons allow us to learn complex social behaviors, some of which formed the foundations of human civilization as we know it.

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilayanur_S._Ramachandran
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neuron

Why do we Dream - BBC Horizon

Horizon uncovers the secret world of our dreams. In a series of cutting-edge experiments and personal stories, we go in search of the science behind this most enduring mystery and ask: where do dreams come from? Do they have meaning? And ultimately, why do we dream?

What the film reveals is that much of what we thought we knew no longer stands true. Dreams are not simply wild imaginings but play a significant part in all our lives as they have an impact on our memories, the ability to learn, and our mental health. Most surprisingly, we find nightmares, too, are beneficial and may even explain the survival of our species.

Secrets of Body Language

Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously.

John Borg attests that human communication consists of 93 percent body language and paralinguistic cues, while only 7% of communication consists of words themselves; however, Albert Mehrabian, the researcher whose 1960s work is the source of these statistics, has stated that this is a misunderstanding of the findings (see Misinterpretation of Mehrabian's rule). Others assert that "Research has suggested that between 60 and 70 percent of all meaning is derived from nonverbal behavior."

Body language may provide clues as to the attitude or state of mind of a person. For example, it may indicate aggression, attentiveness, boredom, relaxed state, pleasure, amusement, and intoxication, among many other cues.

Gas Discharge Visualization technique and Kirlian Energy

Kirlian photography refers to a form of photogram made with electricity. It is named after Semyon Kirlian, who in 1939 accidentally discovered that if an object on a photographic plate is connected to a source of voltage an image is produced on the photographic plate.

Kirlian's work, from 1939 onward, involved an independent rediscovery of a phenomenon and technique variously called "electrography", "electrophotography" and "corona discharge photography." The Kirlian technique is contact photography, in which the subject is in direct contact with a film placed upon a charged metal plate.

Current research continues by Dr. Konstantin Korotkov in the Russian University, St. Petersburg State Technical University of Informational Technologies, Mechanics and Optics. Dr. Korotkov has published several books. He uses GDV (Gas Discharge Visualization) based on the Kirlian Effect. GDV instruments use glass electrodes to create a pulsed electrical field excitation (called "perturbation technique") to measure electro-photonic glow.

This is a playlist (5 videos, 40 minutes) about the GDV technique:




Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_Discharge_Visualization
(Same: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirlian_photography)

Brain Story

Why do we think and feel as we do? For years man has sought to understand the workings of the mind. Now, with advances in modern-day technology and developments in neuroscience, a whole new world of brain research is opening up.

Understanding our minds is becoming a reality. Guided by top neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, Brain Story attempts to answer the question “What is my mind and who am I?” We talk to philosophers, clinicians, neurosurgeons and their patients to discover quite what a finely balanced and complex machine the brain is.

6 episodes / 9 videos (playlist – 4 hours, 54 minutes)

All in the Mind. Susan Greenfield explains why she believes all aspects of human experience will eventually be explained in terms of the physical processes of the brain. The story of how we have gradually come to understand the astonishing complexity of the brain is revealed, from the earliest crude studies of the effects of brain injury, through to the latest insights from direct stimulation of specific areas in patients undergoing brain surgery whilst wide awake. Is it possible that our most spiritual feelings are merely the result of electrical activity in the temporal lobe?

In the Heat of the Moment. Where do emotions come from? Why do they feel so different from thoughts? Susan Greenfield looks at some of the old attempts to explain emotion in terms of brain areas and explains why she believes the answer must lie in the biochemistry of the brain – all the hundreds of chemical neurotransmitters which bathe the nerves.

The Mind’s Eye. The illusion of vision. It feels as though we open our eyes and just see what’s out there, but the more we learn about the brain’s visual system, the further it seems this is from the truth. Patients who can’t see movement or recognize faces, reveal the tricks and short cuts the brain uses to construct an illusion of reality. Is the brain making up so much of what we think we’re seeing that vision is really just dreaming with your eyes open?

First Among Equals. What is it about brains that has put us in charge of the planet? Were have humans’ unique linguistic abilities come from? Are there special structures in our brains which no other animals possess? Or is it possible that our sophisticated rich cultures are merely the result of having larger brains? Susan Greenfield explains why she believes we are truly just big-brained chimps.

Growing the Mind. The changes in the brain during the growth and development of a baby into an adult are explored. Susan Greenfield looks at how little of the fine structure of our brains is predetermined at birth, how the connections between nerves are constantly changing in response to what we encounter in the outside world. She explains her view that learning, memory and even the process of becoming a unique individual, should all be seen as a restless brain adapting minute by minute to the environment it encounters. Life is about how the world leaves its mark on us.

The Final Mystery. How do our brains generate consciousness? We take it for granted that the brain makes being alive feel the way it does, but there’s no reason why it should.The brain is made of the same biological ingredients as the rest of the body, and yet somehow it manages to generate the indescribable phenomenon of consciousness. Consciousness is far more than just being able to imagine; it’s a whole extra dimension.






Related Wikipedia articles:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cingulate_cortex
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocampus