COGST 2350

How the Brain Makes the Mind

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2023-2024.

There is no getting away from the brain. Everything a person does, creates, thinks, feels, believes, and experiences (including making sense of course descriptions!) depends on it. But, how? How could a three pound mass of cells and the body in which it exists "see," "decide," or "remember," let alone navigate a busy city, play soccer, or write poetry? This course will provide students with the foundational concepts and tools they will need to begin to address these questions, providing insight into how modern cognitive neuroscientists understand the brain, how it works, and how the mind emerges from all of this. Students will learn core principles of modern human cognitive neuroscience (e.g., brain structure versus function, connectivity, reuse) and their application to cognition (e.g., action, perception, attention, memory, emotion, language, cognitive control, and consciousness). Topics in neuroanatomy, human neuroscience methods, and neurological conditions will also be covered.

• Contrast several perspectives on the relationship between the mind, brain, and body.
• Explain principles of cognitive neuroscience that relate brain structure to function.
• Describe current views about core cognitive functions, like perception, attention, and memory, and their brain basis.
• Demonstrate understanding of the methods and tools used in human cognitive neuroscience, contrasting their strengths and weaknesses.
• Describe how some kinds of brain dysfunction may lead to cognitive disorders.

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