Cartographers of the Brain: Mapping the Connectome | 2018

Scientists are attempting to map the wiring of the nearly 100 billion neurons in the human brain. Are we close to uncovering the mysteries of the mind or are we only at the beginning of a new frontier?

PARTICIPANTS: Deanna Barch, Jeff Lichtman, Nim Tottenham, David Van Essen
MODERATOR: John Hockenberry
Original program date: JUNE 4, 2017

WATCH THE TRAILER: https://youtu.be/lX5S_1bXUhw
WATCH THE LIVE Q&A W/ JEFF LICHTMAN: https://youtu.be/h14hcBrqGSg

Imagine navigating the globe with a map that only sketched out the continents. That’s pretty much how neuroscientists have been operating for decades. But one of the most ambitious programs in all of neuroscience, the Human Connectome Project, has just yielded a “network map” that is shedding light on the intricate connectivity in the brain. Join leading neuroscientists and psychologists as they explore how the connectome promises to revolutionize treatments for psychiatric and neurological disorders, answer profound questions regarding the electrochemical roots of memory and behavior, and clarify the link between our upbringing and brain development.

MORE INFO ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND PARTICIPANTS: https://www.worldsciencefestiv....al.com/programs/wire

This program is part of the Big Ideas Series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

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TOPICS:

- Mapping the Brain 00:00

- What is a connectome? 06:02

- Santiago Ramón y Cajal 10:18

- Is the brain signal electricity? 17:09

- Who inspired you to do this work? 25:56

- Brain development in youth 29:45

- Do the maps we have now help us explain the brain? 32:43

- A series of subtraction and progressive processes. 39:17

- What is a Von Neumann machine 46:08

- How can we develop new synapse responses in an adult brain? 50:45

This program was recorded live on 6/4/17 and has been edited and condensed for our YouTube channel. Watch the original full livestream here: https://youtu.be/VBa3BYNTA8E