Indre Viskontas – Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons From Neuroscience

Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience

Team up with a brain expert and use the needle of neuroscience to burst popular myths about memory, dreams, and more.

LECTURE (24)

1. Is Your Brain Perfectly Designed?
   Begin the course by debunking one of the most fundamental myths about the human brain. Along the way, discover how our brains are shaped by evolution and experience, which neurons are responsible for self-awareness and motor coordination, and why the brain is still very much a work in progress.
2. Are Bigger Brains Smarter?
   When it comes to brains, size doesn’t matter as much as you think. Here, explore concepts including the Encephalization quotient (which compares brain mass to body mass), the “g” factor (a long-sought-after standard of cognitive ability), and the lessons scientists have learned from studying the brain of Albert Einstein.
3. Is Mental Illness Just a Chemical Imbalance?
   According to Dr. Viskontas, major psychiatric illnesses aren’t just the result of chemical concentrations in the brain. The focus of this lecture is an intriguing exploration of two disorders that have proven to be far more complicated and nuanced in our understanding of mental illness: schizophrenia and depression.
4. Are Creative People Right-Brained?
   Think your brain is divided into a creative side and an analytical side? Think again. The two hemispheres of your brain are actually quite interconnected. Discover what neuroimaging has revealed about the way our brains think and create, and why it’s all about collaboration – not competition.
5. How Different Are Male and Female Brains?
   We’re always hearing about studies that find significant differences the brains of men and women. How should we be thinking about gender differences in the brain? How are these differences misinterpreted? What are the differences in the male and female amygdala and hippocampus? Which genders express which emotions more openly?
6. How Accurate Is Your Memory?
   In this lecture that unpacks the accuracy of your memories, learn how information is encoded, stored, and retrieved in the brain; examine how Alzheimer’s disease and amnesia affect the brain’s ability to remember; and explore the “Seven Sins of Memory,” including absentmindedness, memory blocking, and misattribution.
7. Do You Only Use 10% of Your Brain?
   Are you using your brain to its fullest potential? Here, clear up some of the mystery about how much of our brain power we’re using. As you’ll learn, you use a lot more of your brain than you think, whether you’re practicing a new skill or simply zoning out in front of the television.
8. Do You Perceive the World as It Really Is?
   According to Dr. Viskontas, the biggest myth about our senses is that they reflect the world as it actually is. Using vision as an example, discover how your sensory system uses shortcuts and fills in details to create, from portions of the environment, the illusion that you’re perceiving reality objectively.
9. Is Your Brain Too Smart for Magic Tricks?
   We’ve all been fooled by a magic trick at one point or another. But we rarely stop to think about how magicians are simply manipulating pre-existing shortcomings in our minds. Here, explore some of the neurological principles magicians rely on, including selective attention, inattention blindness, and change blindness.
10. Is Your Brain Objective?
    Contrary to what you might believe, we don’t weight evidence equally before building personal beliefs. Instead, we’re beholden to confirmation bias. Is this a bug our brains could do without? Is it an evolutionary advantage? Can it also lead to sublime experiences (like appreciating a piece of music)?
11. Do You Have 5 Independent Senses?
    Discover why your senses aren’t as separate as you think – and why you actually have more than five. Topics in this lecture include proprioception (sensing where you are) and synesthesia (a neurological condition in which the stimulation of one sense causes the involuntary activation of a different sense).
12. Can Certain Foods Make You Smarter?
    In this lecture on “brain food,” consider the scientific truths behind the food fads that make headlines; test out the myths associated with foods like fish oil, vitamins, power drinks, chocolate, and tea; and ponder the potential of smart pills (known as nootropics) such as Adderall and Ritalin.
13. Can Brain Games Make You Smarter?
    An increased focus among scientists on neuroplasticity (changes in the brain’s biology) has led to a flurry of brain-training games and tools aimed at improving our cognitive skills. Here, probe the potential of these games, and consider some alternate ways to train your brain, including exercising and socializing.
14. Does Your Brain Shut Down during Sleep?
    What, exactly, happens when you fall asleep? Why do our brains need sleep in order to function? What are some of the neurological dangers of not getting enough sleep? What are the sleep patterns of other animals, and how do they compare to our own? Dr. Viskontas provides some answers.
15. Are Your Decisions Rational?
    When we make decisions, we’re actually swayed by things that any truly rational human being would ignore. Why do our brains work this way? Explore the “mental laziness” hardwired into our nature, and why we easily fall prey to superficial judgments. Central to this idea: the brain’s two thinking systems.
16. Are You Always Conscious while Awake?
    In this lecture, probe the eternal “problem” of consciousness – perhaps the most difficult topic in all of neuroscience. How have scientists tried to determine what consciousness is and how it works? Along the way, examine several theories, including the intriguing idea that consciousness is nothing more than a neural afterthought.
17. Are Other Animals Conscious?
    Continue exploring consciousness with a consideration of its appearance in other animals. Scientific studies in animals ranging from primates to octopi have uncovered some illuminating insights into how animals can potentially show complex behaviors (including compassion, self-recognition, and generosity) we typically associate exclusively with conscious humans.
18. Can You Multitask Efficiently?
    Multitasking is a critical skill in today’s world. But does it really work as well as you think? Dr. Viskontas lays bare the neurology of the multitasker and uses key studies to draw several powerful conclusions, including that doing two things at once is impossible when both tasks require your conscious attention.
19. Are Dreams Meaningful?
    Consider some of the potential roots (and purposes) of dreams and how neuroscientists study them. While dreams continue to remain mysterious, some theories posit that dreams play a role in consolidating your memory, and that they can be driven by emotional events (including traumatic ones).
20. Can Brain Scans Read Your Mind?
    Discover what neuroimaging can – and can’t – tell us about how the human mind works. First, examine what brain scans are actually showing us. Then, consider three regions of the brain prone to common misunderstanding in the media: the amygdala, the reward circuitry, and the prefrontal cortex.
21. Can Adult Brains Change for the Better?
    Just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean you can’t still learn and master new things. After considering how neuroplasticity works in a toddler’s brain, explore how exercise and musical training are two ways to influence the growth of new neurons and the formation of new synapses (known as neurogenesis).
22. Do Special Neurons Enable Social Life?
    From mirror neurons to von Economo cells, learn the role that special neurons might play in human social behavior. Recent breakthroughs in neuroscience have expanded our understanding of how we interact with and understand people, but myths about these special neurons abound.
23. Is Your Brain Unprejudiced?
    You might not be racist, but your brain likely is. How did neuroscientists come to this startling conclusion? And what can we, as individuals, do about it? Find out in this fascinating lecture on the neurology of prejudice, implicit and explicit biases, stereotyping, and in-group preferences.
24. Does Technology Make You Stupid?
    In this final lecture, ponder several prevalent myths about the relationship between technology and the brain. Among these: smartphones are killing our attention spans, social media is addictive (and leads us to be less social), computers make us less intelligent, and search engines are destroying our memory.

DETAILS

Overview

Join an acclaimed neuroscientist for 24 lectures that bust popular myths about memory, dreams, emotions, consciousness, and more.

About Indre Viskontas

The beauty of science is that with each question that is answered, many more questions are raised; each discovery helps us develop more refined queries about the world around us.

ALMA MATER University of California, Los Angeles

INSTITUTION University of California, San Francisco

Indre Viskontas is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of San Francisco, where she runs the Creative Brain Lab. She earned a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has published more than 50 original papers and chapters related to the neural basis of memory and creativity. A passionate science communicator, she has appeared on major TV and radio programs and hosts the popular science podcast Inquiring Minds as well as the podcast Cadence: What Music Tells Us about the Mind.

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