Edinburgh Neuroscience Christmas Public Lecture 2020 - The executive brain: why concepts matter

2020 Christmas Lecture website image

The executive brain: why concepts matter

with Dr Thomas Bak, Human Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences

**Update: Join us on Zoom or on YouTube**

Zoom Webinar: If you booked before 11.25 am yesterday should have received your personal Zoom Webinar joining link already (it was sent yesterday using the Edinburgh.Neuroscience@ed.ac.uk email address). For those people who booked after 11.25 am yesterday - you will be sent your personal Zoom Webinar link later today.

YouTube option: We will also be live-streaming the talk on our YouTube channel via this link: https://youtu.be/BKxuEYT_nWY. A recording will then be available to view later on the EdNeuro channel. Please note - Zoom Webinar will allow you to participate in live Q&A, whereas YouTube won't.

The Zoom Webinar platform has a 500 person limit. If you find you are unable to join because we have reached that limit, please pop over to YouTube to watch the talk there. Similarly, if you have problems joining for any reason, then the YouTube link should still work for you: https://youtu.be/BKxuEYT_nWY

We look forward to welcoming you at 6pm (GMT) this evening.

 

About the talk

What is the "executive brain"?: The brain of "executives"? The brain as the "executive" of the body? The parts of the brain which make decisions and implement them?

This talk will trace the way in which we think of the brain as a "decision maker", the concepts and the metaphors we use and the influence they have on science and its public understanding.

Accompanied by Descartes, Montesquieu and the Japanese film director Kurosawa, we will move from bilingualism to business, from dementia to depression and from single case studies to big data, seeing how the time in lockdown can be used in a constructive manner to refresh our thinking and our research.

About Dr Thomas Bak

Born and raised in Cracow, Poland, Dr Thomas H Bak studied medicine and worked as a clinician in psychiatry and neurology in Bern, Berlin, Cambridge and Edinburgh. 2010-2018 he was the president of the World Federation of Neurology Research Group on Aphasia, Dementia and Cognitive Disorders (WFN RG ADCD).

His main interest is the relationship between language, brain and mind, with a recent focus on the impact of language learning and multilingualism on cognitive functions across the lifespan and in brain diseases such as dementia and stroke. He has teaching experience in 7 languages and conducts his research in a wide range of populations across the world.

This lecture is hosted by Edinburgh Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh.

How to book

To book your free place at this online talk visit our Eventbrite page.

We will send you, via email, the link to join this live talk a few days before the event. 

 

Tags

2020