[Image by martinhoward.]

Prosopagnosia

Face blindness (the inability to recognize people based on their faces) and its effects on those affected is the topic of this interview, one of a series of three with the researcher.

Video Caregiving

Streaming educational clips for family and caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Custom video player with VOD modules a few minutes long each and background multimedia. Useful info on coping, communicating, activities, family relationships, caregiving issues, dignity and more. The producer offers more elder care info on DVD here.

[U Mich library graffiti. Image by quinn.anya]

A Better Brain: The Ethics of Neuro-enhancement

The neuroethics of cosmetic psychopharmacology. Four hypothetical situations (with real parallels) are debated by major thinkers on a panel at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism: a person who wants to take a drug for narcolepsy to stay awake in order to work more, a parent considering giving their child a psych med to help with social skills, healthy students who take “Rememberall, made by Hype Pharmaceuticals” to enhance studying, and memory dampening. Highlights. Close captioned.

Brain, Mind and Behavior: Pain and the Brain

From the Mini Med School for the Public from UCSF on UCTV, an engaging talk on the nature and management of pain.

[Image by totalAldo.]

Psychology in Human-Computer Interactions

David Kieras on human-computer interaction and usability, in a course lecture at CHI2008.

Experimental philosophy of freedom

Wonderful experimental philosophy video illustrating a question posed by Aristotle about voluntary vs. involuntary moral choices. While host Ram Neta explains, it’s acted out in front of a screen then sea storm backgrounds and other imagery is keyed in. Simple, fun, and nicely edited too. I also liked the burning armchair logo and riot grrrl music, and they’re probably the only philosophy professors with a MySpace profile, wiki, blog and YouTube channel. The Experimental Philosophy Society is net-savvy. While there’s some debate about whether the logo makes them seem less serious in the academic world, I think it’s great for reaching wider audiences. But they’re not just about new media: read the paper accompanying this video, Moral Judgments and Intuitions about Freedom by Jonathan Phillips and Joshua Knobe. They conducted field experiments in a mall to learn how moral judgments influence the intuitive perception of freedom, and found the process complex and suffused with multiple judgments.

Phillips, J., & Knobe, J. (2009). Moral Judgments and Intuitions About Freedom Psychological Inquiry, 20 (1), 30-36 DOI: 10.1080/10478400902744279

More Than Sad: Teen Depression

Depression and suicidal behavior in youth. Nicely produced video with great messages, and I also appreciated that online, the stories are in separate players on the same page so I could watch four at once (though I don’t recommend you try that at home). Schools and families, order a DVD with resource materials ($50). Online, check out AFSP and 1-800-273-TALK for help with suicide and depression.

title How Do We Communicate? Language in the Brain, Mouth and the Hands
description Basics of language: “…introduces students to the major topics within the study of language: phonology, morphology, syntax and recursion. … theories of language acquisition, arguments for the specialization of language, and the commonalities observed in different languages across cultures.” Lecture 6 of 20 in the course Introduction to Psychology from Yale Online Creative Commons open learning courses, via Academic Earth. Nifty “dim the lights” function. Transcript.
producer Yale University
featuring Paul Bloom
format Flash
date unknown
length 00:56:31
link http://academicearth.org/lectures/how-do-we-communicate-language

Tags: brain video lecture education linguistics language neurology

title fMRI Investigations of Human Extrastriate Cortex: People, Places, and Things
description A basic lecture for the general public about visual perception and facial recognition, from the star-studded Columbia C250 Symposium. Indexed video with slides, and a PDF transcript.
producer Columbia University
featuring Nancy Kanwisher
format RealMedia
date 13/05/04
length 00:47:20
link http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_events/symposia/brain_mind/brain_mind_vid_archive.html

Tags: brain video lecture vision perception neuroimaging psychology

title Single Cell Electroporation in vivo within the Intact Developing Brain
description How to perform single cell electroporation, using a micropipette to introduce DNA into a single neuron in tadpole brains. A UBC student, Sesath Hewapathirane (in the Kurt Haas lab) received two UBC Faculty of Medicine Graduate Research Awards for 2008-2009 (congratulations) and did a great job with this pubcast video in the Journal of Visualized Experiments, too. Charismatic, with good narration.
producer D. Sesath Hewapathirane, Kurt Haas, JoVE
featuring D. Sesath Hewapathirane
format Flash
date 07/11/08
length 00:13:31
link http://www.jove.com/index/Details.stp?ID=705&sn=BID21

Tags: brain video vodcast pubcast JoVE education neuroscience neurodevelopment neuron