In 1992 Rizzolatti and his colleagues found a special kind of neuron in the premotor cortex of monkeys (Di Pellegrino et al., 1992). These neurons, which respond to perceiving an action whether it’s performed by the observed monkey or a different monkey (or person) it’s watching, are called mirror neurons Many neuroscientists, such as V. …
Monthly Archives: July 2007
Grand Challenges of Neuroscience: Day 5
Topic: Language Everyday (spoken) language use involves the production and perception of sounds at a very fast rate. One of my favorite quotes on this subject is in “The Language Instict” by Steven Pinker, on page 157. “Even with heroic training [on a task], people could not recognize the sounds at a rate faster than …
Grand Challenges of Neuroscience: Day 4
After a bit of a hiatus, I’m back with the last three installments of “Grand Challenges in Neuroscience”. Topic 4: Time Cognitive Science programs typically require students to take courses in Linguistics (as well as in the philiosphy of language). Besides the obvious application of studying how the mind creates and uses language, an important …