Attention, Philadelphia: We’re Invading Your Brain

If you’d like to learn about some of the latest discoveries about the brain and find out where neuroscience is headed, please join me at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia on Wednesday. I’ll be moderating a panel discussion packed with prominent neuroscientists. Here are the details:

The Franklin Institute, Discover Magazine and the National Science Foundation present a fascinating neuroscience symposium.

“Unlocking the Secrets and Powers of the Brain.”
Date: November 19
Time: 7:00pm
Event location: Franklin Theater
Admission: Free with advanced registration, please call 215.448.1254

Moderated by award-winning journalist Carl Zimmer, the discussion features Dan Levitin (best-selling author of This is Your Brain On Music), Michael Gazzaniga (Director for the SAGE Center for the Study of Mind at UC Santa Barbara), Rebecca Saxe (Assistant Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at MIT), Sam Wang (Welcome to Your Brain) and Ron Mangun (Interim Dean of Social Sciences, a Professor of Psychology and Neurology, and the Director of the Center for Mind and Brain at the UC Davis). A book signing will follow.

November 17th, 2008 7:10 AM by Carl Zimmer in Brains, Talks | 7 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

7 Responses to “Attention, Philadelphia: We’re Invading Your Brain”

1. forrest benson Says:
November 18th, 2008 at 5:13 pm

I am a college faculty member and writewr in the area .. I would love to have a cpopy of your comments at the presentation …
2. Angela Wingers Says:
November 22nd, 2008 at 10:41 am

I am a video producer and screenwriter. I would also like to have a copy too.
3. Angela Wingers Says:
November 22nd, 2008 at 10:46 am

When will the podcast be available?
4. JohnK Says:
November 23rd, 2008 at 3:06 am

Carl,

The picture your have of a brain in a transparent skull is similar to many others. It shares with them the common problem of scale:

The brain is too small.

The orbital surface of the frontal lobes should be just above the eyes (orbits). The frontal pole should be slightly behind the forehead. But the biggest problem is that the brainstem, and exit of the spinal cord, are way too high. The foramen magnum is, I think, much lower.

For some strange reason, all images like this have similar errors. The cover of the Society of Neurosciences publication, “Brain Facts’, has a similar error, and it’s worse.

This is being a bit picky. But there is a larger point. It is frequently difficult for scientists to communicate well with scientific illustrators. Perhaps as a result, one of the weakest aspects of science writing, especially popular science writing in books, are the illustrations. There are notable exceptions.

I teach a lot. I spend more time on figures than anything else. Although I’m only a so-so illustrator, I give a lot of thought to accuracy, clarity and expressing what I’m trying to show. Graphics are also important in presenting research, but that’s another topic. But I feel the importance of good images in presenting ideas is frequently overlooked.
5. Bonnie Says:
December 16th, 2008 at 9:00 pm

I would also like to know when a podcast will be available. An ad in Discover Dec promised full coverage online.
6. Michael Says:
January 19th, 2009 at 5:41 pm

I am also curious to know when the video will be posted in the events section ‘brain_video.’ Will this be posted soon? Just curious and anticipating the vid!

Thanks Discover!
7. I Do Not Like To Play With Toy Soldiers (And Other Neuroscientific Gems) | The Loom | Discover Magazine Says:
February 26th, 2009 at 3:06 pm

[...] are excerpts from the panel discussion on the brain I moderated at the Franklin Institute. The scurrilous rumor about me and toy soldiers pops up about [...]

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