This course will begin by describing the brain and some of the methods used to study how it works. We then will consider a series of questions, relating a brain area and an aspect of behavior. For instance, we will begin by asking how we distinguish faces, from each other and from other objects.

Most questions will be introduced by descriptions of brain-damaged people. This approach was pioneered by Oliver Sacks, whose story “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” uses a singular case to provoke a broader exploration of human brain function.

Along with face perception, other likely issues include spatial attention, memory, and the mechanisms underlying adjustments to norms and risk. All of these are complex, much too complex to master in one course. However, grappling with them even briefly can tell us much about how the brain does, and doesn't, work.

Lectures will be used to present the basics of brain structure and functional methods. The cases and issues that will guide our survey of brain function will be introduced by readings and videos. The analysis of these materials will involve readings, lecture, and discussion.