Debrecen University Medical School,
4012 Debrecen, Nagyerdei körút 98
Ph. D. course
The neurobiology of higher mental processes
Coordinator:
Balázs Gulyás
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm and
Debrecen University Medical School, Debrecen
Speakers:
Balázs Gulyás
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
Gyula Kovács
Department of Physiology, Szent-Györgyi Albert Medical University, Szeged
Szabolcs Kéri
Department of Psychiatry, Szent-Györgyi Albert Medical University, Szeged
Luis Murillo
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
Information about the course:
Némethné Piroska
DOTE - Tempus / Orvosi Biológusképzés Iroda
Tel: +52-455865
Time:
Friday, 23 April 1999, 9.00 - 18.00
Place:
Lecture Hall, Department of Dermatology,
DOTE, 4012 Debrecen, Nagyerdei körút 98
Objectives of the course:
Language of the course:
English
Structure of the course:
9.00 - 10.50 Lectures B. Gulyás, Gy. Kovács
10.50 - 11.10 Coffee break
11.10 - 13.00 Lectures Gy. Kovács, Sz. Kéri
13.00 - 14.00 Lunch break
14.00 - 15.50 Lectures L. Murillo
15.50 - 16.10 Coffee break
16.10 - 18.00 Lectures B. Gulyás
Literature and recommended readings will be distributed during the course
Web-site of the course will soon be available under the home-page of the DOTE Medical Biology program:
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Themes and speakers:
A. Introduction and overview
Balázs Gulyás
1. Introduction and overview of higher mental functions
2. Methodological background (psychophysics, behavioural studies in animals, neuropsychology, neuroimaging, etc.)
3. Phylogenesis of higher mental and conscious functions
4. Ways of dissecting higher mental functions
5. Analysis of conscious functions and higher mental processes not entering consciousness
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B. Various models and interpretations
Gyula Kovács
Our brain and our mind
The neuronal bases of consciousness
1. Introduction
1.1. Definition of awareness & consciousness for the non-philosopher
1.2. „Components” of consciousness
1.3. Levels of human consiousness
1.4 „Prerequisites” of consciousness
2. Recent results on the brain and mind problem
2.1. Visual consciousness
2.2. Blindsight
2.3. Perception vs. action
2.4. Bistable percepts
2.4.1.-Ambigous figures
2.4.2.-Binocular rivalry
2.5 Electrical brain stimulation and conscious behaviour
2.6 Subliminal and supraliminal stimulus processing,
2.7. Time scale of consciousness
-Humans & Monkeys:
2.8. NCC - Neural Correlate of Consciousness,
-Theories & models
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Szabolcs Kéri
Schizophrenia as an example for "de-construction"
in consciousness
research:
NEUROCOGNITIVE MECHANISMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA:
FROM SENSORY GATING TO SELF-MONITORING
1. Definition and phenomenology of schizophrenia: psychotic, disorganized, and negative symptoms. Some aspects of etiology.
2. Basic cognitive disturbances and their neuronal substrates in schizophrenia
2.1. Prefrontal dysfunction: working memory, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the dopaminergic regulation of memory fields.
2.2. Semantic memory and temporal lobe pathology: fluency tests, fronto-temporal dysconnection, N400, categorization and thought disorder.
2.3. Sensory gating and early visual information processing: P50, continuos performance test (CPT) and backward masking. Phoneme categorical perception, mismatch-negativity (MMN), and P300.
3. The cognitive psychopathology of schizophrenia
3.1. Willed action, negative symptoms and the frontal lobes.
3.2. Self-monitoring: mechanisms of auditory hallucinations and delusions of reference and alien control. Dysconnection syndromes in schizophrenia.
3.3. Theory of mind: cingulate dysfunction, autism and paranoid delusions.
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Luis Murillo
From elementary visual perception to recognition:
the binding problem
Some examples of parallel processing in the brain
A.The color-opponent and luminance channels (Schiller, Logothetis)
B.Color processing in both cortical and subcortical (mesencephalic) structures.
1. Progressive encephalization theories (example Tupaia belangeri)
C. Cognitive consequences:
1. The dorsal and ventral streams in the visual system
D. But if processing is modular, how does the information "get unified" into a single perceptual Gestalt?
1.The binding problem
2.Increase of coherent firing in both hemispheres (Knyazewa, Engel)
3.Misplaced intentionality fallacies and homuncularisations.
E. Recognition of objects when they are viewed from different positions/perspectives
1.View-invariant coding cells in temporal cortex (Booth and Rolls)
F. Philosophical considerations
1. Intentionality, Synthesis (Husserl)
2.The temporal structure of consciouscness (Pöppel, Varela)
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C. Some corollaries of conscious behaviour
Balázs Gulyás
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D. Overview and discussion