We Didn’t Start the Scanner

- Exactly as described: “A History of Cognitive Neuroscience…in Three Minutes.” Set to the melody of Billy Joel’s classic song “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” new lyrics highlight significant scientists and advances in the field over the years, interspersed with comedy bits reminiscent of silent films. A lively and fun history lesson, this student video won the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Brains on Film Competition 2012 at University College London. Full lyrics are available here in the video’s description. Hat tip: contest organizer Sophie Scott.

Wendy Suzuki – Exercise and the Brain

A cognitive neuroscientist gives a rousing talk about the benefits of exercise on memory. She describes being inspired to teach after learning about the brain’s ability to adapt, and experimenting with aerobic exercise, becoming an IntenSati fitness instructor to teach her neuroscience students. She designed a classroom experiment that combined lectures with workouts, and found students were not only more engaged but their cognitive skills improved over time. Mentioning animal models that showed growth in the brain after exercise, as well as research with exercise and Alzheimer’s (see this video), she makes a compelling case to visit the gym.

Analogy as the Core of Cognition

Douglas Hofstadter demonstrates numerous analogies and talks about how analogy is at the core of cognition, in this high profile Presidential Lecture from the Stanford archives.

RSA Animate – Language as a Window into Human Nature

How the mind turns language into meaning. The voice of linguist Steven Pinker in a wonderfully animated clip from a longer lecture, available here.

Neuromarketing Brainwaves for Marketers

A basic grounding in neuroimaging and neuromarketing, in a presentation by a professor for marketers. Definitions, processes, interpretation, and the difference between traditional market research that asks for explicit views and neuroimaging that looks inside the brain.

It’s all in the timing: A psychologist measures how musicians communicate emotion

Dan Levitin designed a psychology experiment using a special player piano to analyze and reproduce a performance without expressive elements, and versions in between. When participants ranked their preference of versions it was found they matched the most expressive, in which a musician uses variations in timing, loudness and softness to convey emotion. In the second brief video, part 2, Levitin discusses implications for synthesized music. Hat tip: Open Culture.

How Magic Changes Our Expectations About Autism

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a study were more subsceptible to a cognitive illusion, compared to controls. Watch the multimedia pubcast at SciVee, synced to the original article How Magic Changes Our Expectations About Autism, Kuhn et al., Psychological Science, 2010.

Theatre and Cognitive Neuroscience – Science’s Impact on Ideas of the Actor

Something a little different: a theatre professor talks about the impact of cognitive science on acting. An ambitious and original interdisciplinary talk applying findings from neuroscience and metaphors to describe imagination, embodiment, perception, philosophy, and more, as relevant to the art of acting.

Experiment Psychology – Change Blindness

Change blindness and selective attention: what it is, with a cognitive psychology experiment to demonstrate.

Genetic Contribution to Variation in Cognitive Function in Twins

Using neuroimaging to examine cognitive function in twins, results show that their brain functioning is more similar than that of non-twin siblings. Based on Genetic contribution to variation in cognitive function: An fMRI study in twins, Koten et al, Science, 2009. This short documentary is a strong entry in the Gene Screen BC 2010 science video contest. Winner will be announced Sept. 8. Pubcast DOI: 10.4016/20743.01.