Visualizing Mind/Brain Mechanisms

A large part of the human brain is devoted to processing visual information, which helps explain the prominent power of images. This talk will first briefly review some relevant information about visual processing in the brain and the ways that neuroscientists envisage the operation of the underlying neural networks. The mysterious mind-brain relationship also provides a rich terrain for artistic exploration, and the second part will deal with ways that artists have exploited brain mechanisms and have represented its relation to cognitive function.

Eberhard Fetz ist Professor am Department of Physiology und Biophysics, sowie Associate Director for Neuroscience, Washington National Primate Research und z.Zt. Fellow am Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.

Von Prof. Fetz liegen zahlreiche Publikationen zu neurophysiologischen Fragen vor. Zuletzt sind erschienen: Fetz, E. E. and Shupe, L. E.: Dynamic recurrent neural network models of neurophysiological systems, in: Handbook of Brain Theory and Neural Networks, 2nd ed., M. Arbib, ed. MIT Press. Fetz, E. E., et al: Roles of primate spinal interneurons in preparation and execution of voluntary hand movement. Brain Research Reviews, 40, 2002. Fetz, E. E. et al: Recurrent neural networks of integrate-and-fire cells simulating short-term memory and wrist movement tasks derived from continuous dynamic networks. Journal of Physiology (Paris) 2003. Aumann, T. D. and Fetz, E. E.: Oscillatory activity in forelimb muscles of behaving monkeys evoked by microstimulation in the cerebellar nuclei. Neuroscience Letters 361, 2004.