CiNet Monthly Seminar

March 2, 2017
16:00 ~ 17:00
CiNet　1F　Conference Room

“Can a healthy brain behave as if it were a ‘split-brain’?”

Shuntaro Sasai
Department of Psychiatry
University of Wisconsin – Madison
http://researchmap.jp/shuntarosasai/?lang=english

Host : Shinji Nishimoto (PI)

Abstract:
We often engage in two concurrent but unrelated activities, such as driving on a quiet road while talking over the phone. When the conversation is unrelated to driving, how does the brain manage these two concurrent flows? I will present our recent work showing that a brain may functionally split into two separate ‘driving’ and ‘listening’ systems when a listening task is unrelated to concurrent driving, but not when the two tasks are related. I will then talk about how this relates to individual skills of dual-tasking, and discuss the possibility of a ‘functional split-brain’ despite an intact hard-wiring.

About CiNet’s Monthly Seminar:
In CiNet Monthly Seminar, distinguished external (national and international) speakers will give a lecture about their latest work. The lecture will be held once a month from 16:00 at the CiNet main lecture theatre, followed by an informal discussion in the coffee room. List of speakers will be announced in advance. Everyone is welcome to attend, and welcome to join the after seminar discussion.

Coming up:
# 5  March 6 (Mon.): Projection-specific regulation of large-scale sensorimotor signaling in the neocortex
Takayuki YAMASHITA, Department of Neuroscience, Nagoya University

# 6  April 14 (Fri.): Functional engineering of astrocytes and mind
Ko MATSUI, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University

# 7  May 15 (Mon.): TBA
Kazuhiko SEKI, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry

# 8  June 5 (Mon.): TBA
Fang FANG, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University

# 9  July 28 (Fri.): TBA
Katsu YAMANE, Disney Research

#10  August 4 (Fri.): TBA
Masanori MATSUZAKI, Gradual School of Medicine, Tokyo University

#11  September 22 (Fri.): Prefrontal Cortex and Conscious Perception
Hakwan LAU, Department of Psychology (Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience) & Brain Research Institute, UCLA

#12  October 13 (Fri.): TBA
Ralph ADOLPHS, California Institute of Technology