NeuroReflexionen | TED Salon Playlist Juni 2017

Neuro ist dominant. kaum eine Frage, die wir nicht auch neurowissenschaftlich untersuchen. Oft weitet sich durch die Kombination der disziplinierten Antworten und Erkenntnissen der Blick und bietet neue und nützliche Perspektiven. Ab und zu, aber auch das Gegenteil. Bunte Wirbel der Verwirrung bleiben dann – oder schlimmer noch, unsere Borniertheit zementiert sich. Da sind die langsamen Reflexionen der Salons hilfreich. Im Juni TED Salon geht es darum, um NeuroReflexionen. Hier die Playlist für den TED Salon@TG26 am 15. Juni 2017.

Suzana Herculano-Houzel  What is so special about the human brain?

The human brain is puzzling — it is curiously large given the size of our bodies, uses a tremendous amount of energy for its weight and has a bizarrely dense cerebral cortex. But: why? Neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel puts on her detective’s cap and leads us through this mystery. By making „brain soup,“ she arrives at a startling conclusion.

Siddharthan Chandran Can the damaged brain repair itself?

After a traumatic brain injury, it sometimes happens that the brain can repair itself, building new brain cells to replace damaged ones. But the repair doesn’t happen quickly enough to allow recovery from degenerative conditions like motor neuron disease (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or ALS). Siddharthan Chandran walks through some new techniques using special stem cells that could allow the damaged brain to rebuild faster.

Neil Burgess  How your brain tells you where you are

How do you remember where you parked your car? How do you know if you’re moving in the right direction? Neuroscientist Neil Burgess studies the neural mechanisms that map the space around us, and how they link to memory and imagination.

Sebastian Seung I am my connectome

Sebastian Seung is mapping a massively ambitious new model of the brain that focuses on the connections between each neuron. He calls it our „connectome,“ and it’s as individual as our genome — and understanding it could open a new way to understand our brains and our minds.

Can we, as adults, grow new neurons? Neuroscientist Sandrine Thuret says that we can, and she offers research and practical advice on how we can help our brains better perform neurogenesis—improving mood, increasing memory formation and preventing the decline associated with aging along the way.

Neuroengineer Ed Boyden wants to know how the tiny biomolecules in our brains generate emotions, thoughts and feelings — and he wants to find the molecular changes that lead to disorders like epilepsy and Alzheimer’s. Rather than magnify these invisible structures with a microscope, he wondered: What if we physically enlarge them and make them easier to see? Learn how the same polymers used to make baby diapers swell could be a key to better understanding our brains.