November 2009 Archives

According to the site, "We start off with a brief history of the study of the brain. Then we describe some of the more important large-scale components and their specific functions (for example: memory and vision). We then discuss the brain's fundamental building blocks - the brain cells or the neurons. The mechanism of operation for a single neuron is outlined, and how that contributes when many neurons are networked together. We will come to the conclusion that the brain represents an incredibly complicated system with very sophisticated abilities. It is one of the aims of research in Artificial Intelligence to comprehend these processes in order to build intelligent machines."

I liked this site - It reminds me of composites and prototype formation. It would be a fun tool to generate stimuli for some sort of study....

Evil Clown Factory

Catch-22

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to.

More Paradoxes

This guy is a crack up. Real showmanship in discussing the terminology to discuss areas / divisions of the antonomy as they relate to the brain and the visual system as he prepares his students to conduct brain dissections.

He goes on to further discuss the auditory system, brain stem, spine, olfactory system...

Good site for geometrical illusions. http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/cushione.html  

This site has sounds that might be used in a radio studio. It really isn't academic, just blogged it to have a reference to the site.

http://www.audiencesounds.com/

What can I say?

This website is supposed to help resolve tip of the tongue states (TOT). Does it work? What do we know about the science of TOT and does this site seem to be based on that science?

TOT Site

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

"One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year."

More

This was one of the first computer I was aware of. My brother worked for polymorphics back in the 70's. These had huge floppy disks, a walnut wood case, and green phospher monitors. They didn't do much and they cost a fortune back then. More.

This is a good example of creativity. I wonder how long it took to learn these tricks and I wonder how many other things he tried before he was successful at them.

He has been doing this for awhile

This backyard is perfectly flat. The lines create the illusion that the tree is being sucked into a hole. Read article.

(October 23, 2009) Stanford Professor of psychology and neuroscience, Anthony Wagner PhD, discusses how the brain supports memory for everyday events, and will evaluate whether "mind reading" with brain imaging can detect when a person remembers the past and how this might be used as evidence in a court of law.

Includes a discussion of patient called "HM"; amnesia - real world versus hollywood; anterograde v retrograde; patient "EP"; role of the hippocampus; episodic memory; flash blub memory; subjective experience of reliving the past; brain imaging; lie detection; machine learning algorithms;

Link to India's novel use of brain scans - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/world/asia/15brainscan.html

Speers says that he spent the first few years of his son's life speaking to him in the invented language of the alien race featured in the series "Star Trek" in order to better understand how children learn languages. Meanwhile, Speers' wife continued to address the child in English.

Article

Go to this website to play many videos at once. AudioGravity

There are about 18 different videos you can play together to create your own blenfd of music. This is a good example of how the components mix together to become one single larger sound.