Undergraduates can explore different aspects of neuroscience and society in short, noncredit seminars scheduled throughout the academic year.
You can check back here for detailed information as it becomes available, including course numbers and date/time. If you have any questions about these Preceptorials, please email penncns@gmail.com.
The neuroimaging of neurodivergence: How contemporary perspectives on autism have changed our interpretation of brain data (and vice versa)
Description: The past three decades have witnessed a shift in emphasis from modular (region-specific) perspectives of brain function to network-based perspectives (connectomics). During this same time, our cultural, clinical, and scientific perspectives on the autism spectrum have shifted dramatically, from discrete deficit-based models to multidimensional perspectives on social and emotional behavior. This presentation focuses on the ways in which these two developments foreshadowed and informed one another, and have led to a reconsideration of the status of brain research in understanding autism.
Preceptorial Leader: John D. Herrington, Professor of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
Date and Time: Monday, September 30th from 5:00-6:00 PM
Location: The Center for Neuroscience & Society, Goddard Labs, room 200 (3710 Hamilton Walk)
Sign up here.
Brain Stimulation for Cognitive Enhancement: Effective? Ethical? Equitable?
Description: Neuromodulation technologies like transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial electrical stimulation hold the promise of modifying and potentially enhancing aspects of human cognition in healthy persons. In this talk, Dr. Hamilton, the director of the Penn Brain Stimulation, Translation, Innovation, and Modulation (brainSTIM) Center will discuss the downstream ethical, legal, and social implications of the potential widespread public use of these technologies. One specific question that Dr. Hamilton will consider is whether noninvasive neuromodulation devices are being developed in an equitable manner or whether certain biases are built into their designs.
Preceptorial Leader: Roy Hamilton, Professor of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine
Date and Time: Wednesday, November 13, 5:00-6:00 PM
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Neuroscience vs. Neurodiversity: How Recent Imaging Research Informs Our Understanding of Autism
Description: This preceptorial will examine how advancements in techniques such as brain imaging have informed our understanding and perception of developmental differences like autism spectrum disorder. Amy Lutz also released a new book, Chasing the Intact Mind: How the Severely Autistic and Intellectually Disabled Were Excluded From the Debates that Affect Them Most, so please check it out if you’re interested!
Preceptorial Leader: Amy S.F. Lutz, Senior Lecturer, Department of History and Sociology of Science, UPenn
Date and Time: Wednesday, October 18th from 5:00-6:00 PM
Location: The Center for Neuroscience & Society, Goddard Labs room 200 (3710 Hamilton Walk)
Sign up here.
How Visual Neuroscience Impacts Marketing & Consumer Behavior
Description:We are constantly exposed to advertisements and experience visual messages from product packages in stores, retail displays, and products already owned. Visual marketing is an essential part of corporate identity, strategy, branding, and communication. Some of this falls to creative graphic design, but advertising, design, and marketing can also be significantly enhanced by knowledge of how visual information is processed by the brain and how visual design can be optimized with human cognition and perception in mind. How can we use neuroscience to deliver desirable messages and experiences?
Preceptorial Leader: Zab Johnson, Executive Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative
Date and Time: Wednesday, November 8th from 5:00-6:00 PM
Location: The Center for Neuroscience & Society, Goddard Labs room 200 (3710 Hamilton Walk)
Sign up here.
Cognition In Context: Understanding Goal-directed Attention Across Clinical, Neurodevelopmental, And Classroom Learning Contexts
Description: How do our brains focus attention on what’s important amid constant distractions? In this preceptorial, Dr. Keller will highlight research insights from cognitive neuroscience that help us start to understand goal-directed attention. Dr. Keller will then give some examples for how goal-directed attention might vary across contexts, including in psychiatric conditions, during child and adolescent brain development, and in classroom learning. Throughout this preceptorial, we’ll discuss features of the environment that might influence how our brains focus attention as well as implications of this work for society and policy.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Arielle Keller, Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Penn Lifespan Informatics & Neuroimaging Center
Date and Time: Monday, April 1, 5:30-6:30 PM
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Brave Neuro World: How Will Neuroscience Change Life in the 21st Century?
Description:New developments in neuroscience are impacting society, from law to business to mental health. Learn about separating the science fiction silliness from the truly transformative science and technology! How can we analyze the risks and rewards of these developments and determine how they can be managed ethically?
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Martha Farah, Director of the Center for Neuroscience & Society; Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the Natural Sciences
Date and Time: Monday, April 8, 5:30-6:30 PM
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Are 6 Hours Really Enough? The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognition and Brain Function
Description: Modern industrialized societies require more people to be awake more of the time, but sufficient sleep is needed to prepare the brain for the next wake period and guarantee high levels of cognitive performance. Why do humans often ignore the biological imperatives of sleep? What are the consequences to health and safety of ignoring it? What do we know about the dynamics of sleep needs, and how sleep loss tricks the brain into believing it is alert? This preceptorial reviews the causes and consequences of sleep loss in industrialized societies, and some technology developments designed to prevent the risks posed by sleep loss.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Mathias Basner, Professor of Sleep & Chronobiology in the Department of Psychiatry.
Date and Time: Monday, April 22, 5:30-6:30 PM
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Brave Neuro World: How Will Neuroscience Change Life in the 21st Century?
Description: New developments in neuroscience are impacting society, from law to business to mental health. Learn about separating the science fiction silliness from the truly transformative science and technology! How can we analyze the risks and rewards of these developments and determine how they can be managed ethically?
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Martha Farah, Director of the Center for Neuroscience & Society; Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the Natural Sciences
Date and Time: Saturday, August 24, 2019, 11am-12:30pm
Location: TBD
Curiosity & the Brain
Description: What is the name of the flower that smells like chocolate? What gas is released when you crack your knuckles? Why do dogs’ eyes glow in the dark?* The more you want to know the answers to these questions, the better you’ll remember them. In this preceptorial, we’ll explore the brain circuitry that supports curiosity, and learn about how experiences wire up the brain to be more or less curious. We’ll talk about implications of the neuroscience of curiosity for teaching and learning across the developmental spectrum, from early childhood through college. *For more fun facts, Google “I’m feeling curious”
Preceptorial Leader: Asst. Professor Allyson Mackey, Department of Psychology
Date and Time: Monday Sept 23, 2019, 5-6pm
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Sign up here: https://forms.gle/1EZCF1MM5Sm7Nvv78
The singularity: what if computers achieve superhuman intelligence?
Description: Computers will soon have more raw computing power and memory than human brains, and many scientists believe that computers will, in your lifetime, be vastly smarter in all ways than any human. (Many other scientists believe this is ridiculous.) The rapid transition from humans to computers as the dominant intelligence on earth has been called “the singularity.” We will talk about what intelligence is (not just human, but any intelligence), about predictions of when and how the singularity might happen, and about what effect it might have on humanity.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Lyle Ungar, Professor of Computer and Information Science
Date and Time: Monday, Oct 7, 2019, 5-6pm
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Sign up here: https://forms.gle/Z4ce5YQexJiQHEXV7
The Neuroscience of Making a Decision
Description: We are all victims or benefactors of our own and others’ decision-making. So how do people make decisions, and what are the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying these decisions? In this preceptorial, you will learn about the neural mechanisms underlying decision making and how these might differ across people.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Joseph W. Kable, Baird Term Associate Professor of Psychology
Date and Time: Tuesday, Nov 12, 2019, 5-6pm
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Rewiring the Brain with Virtual Reality
Description: How can virtual reality be used to change the brain? We will discuss new uses for VR in the treatment of psychological disorders such as PTSD. As part of the preceptorial, students will get to experience VR themselves, using equipment similar to that used in these therapies.
Interested students can also check out:
– This clip presented by the VA featuring AppliedVR’s profile
– Brennan Spiegel, AppliedVR’s PIs, published his third article on the product in PLos One
Preceptorial Leader: Joe Powers PhD, Chief Strategy Officer at AppliedVR
Date and Time: Wednesday, Jan 22, 2020, 5-6pm
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Meditation and the Brain: Science and Experience
Description: Meditation and mindfulness practices have been associated with a wide range of mental and physical benefits including increased social connectedness, cognitive flexibility, emotion regulation, and immune function. The practices have also been shown to buffer against the adverse effects of stress, anxiety, and depression. What does neuroscience have to tell us about meditation and the brain? What is mindfulness? We will discuss the growing body of research on this topic, followed by a short, guided session of mindfulness meditation.
Preceptorial Leader: Denise Clegg, MAPP, Penn CNS Fellow and Advisor, Happify.com
Date and Time: Monday, Feb 3, 2020, 5-6pm
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Autism and the Brain
Description: Autism is a highly heritable neurodevelopmental condition, which is typically diagnosed around age 2-4 years based on behaviors: social communication and restrictive/repetitive behaviors. In this preceptorial, we will discuss research findings about the brain in autism. Can information about the brain be useful in making earlier diagnoses for children? We will also talk about what the brain can tell us about the condition of autism.
Interested students can read more about Ms. Yankowitz’s work here.
Preceptorial Leader: Lisa Yankowitz, PhD Candidate in clinical psychology at the Center for Autism Research at UPenn
Date and Time: Monday, March 2, 2020, 5-6pm
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
What can neuroscience tell us about the development of psychopathy?
Description: Psychopathy refers to a dangerous combination of personality and behavior characteristics, including callousness, a lack of empathy and remorse, manipulativeness, impulsiveness, and a willingness to break the law and cause harm to others. But where does it come from? Can (and should) we try to identify the origins of psychopathy in childhood? In this preceptorial, you will learn about the methods and approaches that psychologists use to identify early signs of psychopathy in children and how neuroscience has informed progress in this research area.
Preceptorial Leader: Rebecca Waller, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Date and Time: Monday, April 6, 2020, 5-6pm
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Pythagoras n’ Me: the nature (and nurture) of music
Though not strictly necessary for survival, music is a part of every known human culture. Parallels between musical systems and practices in many and far-flung cultures point to a biological origin in the brain. An introduction to the study of music as a biological phenomenon, this lecture looks at topics including the biological basis of harmonics, pitch consonance, and scales, and why the brain should have evolved to care about such things.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Michael Kaplan, Laboratory Instructor, Biological Basis of Behavior (BBB) Program
Day/Time: Tues, April 16th, 5pm
Location: Goddard 200
How Visual Neuroscience Impacts Marketing & Consumer Behavior
Description: We are constantly exposed to advertisements and experience visual messages from product packages in stores, retail displays, and products already owned. Visual marketing is an essential part of corporate identity, strategy, branding, and communication. Some of this falls to creative graphic design, but advertising, design, and marketing can also be significantly enhanced by knowledge of how visual information is processed by the brain and how visual design can be optimized with human cognition and perception in mind. How can we use neuroscience to deliver desirable messages and experiences?
Preceptorial Leader: Elizabeth (Zab) Johnson, Executive Director and Senior Fellow of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative
Date and Time: November 27, 2018, 5pm
Location: Goddard Labs, 200
Sign up here
The Biology of Beauty
Description: Join Dr. Chatterjee as he talks about the nature of beauty and what we know about its biological basis from psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary theory.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Anjan Chatterjee, Director of Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics
Date and Time: November 5, 2018, 5pm.
Location: Goddard Labs, 200
Brave Neuro World: How Will Neuroscience Change Life in the 21st Century?
Description: New developments in neuroscience are impacting society, from law to business to mental health. Learn about separating the science fiction silliness from the truly transformative science and technology! How can we analyze the risks and rewards of these developments and determine how they can be managed ethically?
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Martha Farah, Director of the Center for Neuroscience & Society; Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the Natural Sciences
Date and Time: Saturday, August 25, 2018
Location: Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall
Brainwashing, Insanity, and Duress: Excuse Defenses to Criminal Liability
Description: Explore nontraditional criminal defenses with Dr. Paul Robinson, one of the world’s leading criminal law scholars. This preceptorial will discuss how excuse defenses such as brainwashing and coercive indoctrination or rotten social background can be used, and how they diverge from the classic doctrine.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Paul Robinson, Professor of Law
Date and Time: January 22, 5-6pm
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
The singularity: what if computers achieve superhuman intelligence?
Description: Computers will soon have more raw computing power and memory than human brains, and many scientists believe that computers will, in your lifetime, be vastly smarter in all ways than any human. (Many other scientists believe this is ridiculous.) The rapid transition from humans to computers as the dominant intelligence on earth has been called “the singularity.” We will talk about what intelligence is (not just human, but any intelligence), about predictions of when and how the singularity might happen, and about what effect it might have on humanity.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Lyle Ungar, Professor of Computer and Information Science
Date and Time: TBA.
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Are 6 hours really enough? The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive Performance and Health
Description: Modern industrialized societies require more people to be awake more of the time, but sufficient sleep is needed to prepare the brain for the next wake period and guarantee high levels of cognitive performance. Why do humans often ignore the biological imperatives of sleep? What are the consequences to health and safety of ignoring it? What do we know about the dynamics of sleep need, and how sleep loss tricks the brain into believing it alert? This preceptorial reviews the causes and consequences of sleep loss in industrialized societies, and some technology developments designed to prevent the risks posed by sleep loss.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Mathias Basner, Associate Professor of Sleep & Chronobiology in Psychiatry
Date and Time: Wednesday, November 15, 6-7pm.
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Brave Neuro World: How Will Neuroscience Change Life in the 21st Century?
Description: New developments in neuroscience are impacting society, from law to business to mental health. Learn about separating the science fiction silliness from the truly transformative science and technology! How can we analyze the risks and rewards of these developments and determine how they can be managed ethically?
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Martha Farah, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Natural Sciences, Director of the Center for Neuroscience & Society
Date and Time: Saturday, August 26 (NSO Preceptorial).
Mind Wars: Neuroscience and Society
Description: This preceptorial will focus on Dr. Jonathan Moreno’s work on the ethical dilemmas and bizarre history of cutting-edge technology and neuroscience developed for military applications, with special reference to his book Mind Wars (2012). Dr. Moreno will discuss the innovative Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the role of the intelligence community and countless university science departments in preparing the military and intelligence services for the twenty-first century. He will also discuss mind control experiments, drugs that erase both fear and the need to sleep, microchip brain implants and advanced prosthetics, supersoldiers and robot armies.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Jonathan Moreno, Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) Professor, David & Lyn Silfen University Professor, Professor of Medical Ethics & Health Policy, Professor of History & Sociology of Science, and of Philosophy
Date and Time: TBA
Location: Goddard Labs 200, 3710 Hamilton Walk
Brainwashing, Insanity, and Duress: Excuse Defenses to Criminal Liability
Description: Explore nontraditional criminal defenses in the historical Eastern State Penitentiary. After a tour of the facility, Dr. Paul Robinson, one of the world’s leading criminal law scholars will discuss how excuse defenses such as brainwashing and coercive indoctrination or rotten social background can be used, and how they diverge from the classic doctrine. Transportation will be provided. Date and Time: Friday, February 12 – 12:30-4pm
Preceptorial Leader: Paul Robinson, Professor of Law
Preceptorial Organizer: Jane Xiao
Neuroscience in the Courtroom
Description: Modern neuro-imaging techniques allow us to look inside the brain to determine its structure and function. We will discuss ways in which an analysis of the structure and function of a criminal defendant’s brain can inform the court. We will debate what brain scans can show and what they cannot prove. We will review cases in which a defendant’s brain structure or function has been a factor in mitigating criminal responsibility and cases in which such evidence has not influenced trial outcome.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Susan Rushing, MD, JD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Preceptorial Organizer: Vicky Ro
Antidepressants and Society
Description: Antidepressant medications are among the most widely-used medical treatments in this country. They are given, very often by non-specialists, for a broad range of conditions, from dissatisfaction with life to problems with anxiety, to severe, chronic depression. What do we know about their effects, both short-term and long-term, in these various conditions? (The answer: surprisingly little.) What factors have led to their widespread use, what do we need to understand much better than we do now, and what, if anything, should we change about the way in which we use these medicines while we await more comprehensive information about their benefits and costs, in the broadest sense?
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Rob DeRubeis, Samuel H. Preston Term Professor in the Social Sciences
Preceptorial Organizer: Vicky Ro
Mind Wars: Neuroscience and Society
Description: This preceptorial will focus on Dr. Jonathan Moreno’s work on the ethical dilemmas and bizarre history of cutting-edge technology and neuroscience developed for military applications, with special reference to his book Mind Wars (2012). Dr. Moreno will discuss the innovative Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the role of the intelligence community and countless university science departments in preparing the military and intelligence services for the twenty-first century. He will also discuss mind control experiments, drugs that erase both fear and the need to sleep, microchip brain implants and advanced prosthetics, supersoldiers and robot armies.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Jonathan Moreno, Professor of History and Sociology of Science, Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Professor of Philosophy
Preceptorial Organizer: Melissa Lee
The singularity: what if computers achieve superhuman intelligence?
Description: Computers will soon have more raw computing power and memory than human brains, and many scientists believe that computers will, in your lifetime, be vastly smarter in all ways than any human. (Many other scientists believe this is ridiculous.) The rapid transition from humans to computers as the dominant intelligence on earth has been called “the singularity.” We will talk about what intelligence is (not just human, but any intelligence), about predictions of when and how the singularity might happen, and about what effect it might have on humanity.
Preceptorial Leader: Professor Lyle Ungar, Computer and Information Science
Preceptorial Organizer: Andrea Yeh
Are 6 hours really enough? The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive Performance and Health
Description: Modern industrialized societies require more people to be awake more of the time, but sufficient sleep is needed to prepare the brain for the next wake period and guarantee high levels of cognitive performance. Why do humans often ignore the biological imperatives of sleep? What are the consequences to health and safety of ignoring it? What do we know about the dynamics of sleep need, and how sleep loss tricks the brain into believing it alert? This preceptorial reviews the causes and consequences of sleep loss in industrialized societies, an some technology developments designed to prevent the risks posed by sleep loss.
Preceptorial Leader: Associate Professor Mathias Basner, Associate Professor of Sleep and Chronobiology in Psychiatry
Preceptorial Organizer: Annie Li
Date and Time: November 18, 6-7 pm
The Neuroscience of Making a Decision
Description: We are all victims or benefactors of our own and others’ decision-making. So how do people make decisions, and what are the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying these decisions? In this preceptorial, you will learn about the neural mechanisms underlying decision making and how these might differ across people.
Preceptorial Leader: Associate Professor Joseph W. Kable, Baird Term Associate Professor of Psychology
Preceptorial Organizer: Annie Li
Date and Time: October 28, 6-7 pm
Music and the Brain
Description: TBD
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Michael Kaplan, Laboratory Instructor, BBB Program
Preceptorial Organizer: Sarita Jamil
The Biology of Beauty
Description: Join Dr. Chatterjee as he talks about the nature of beauty and what we know about its biological basis from psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary theory.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Anjan Chatterjee, Center for Neuroscience and Society
Preceptorial Organizer: Veena Krish
Visual Desensitization
Description: This preceptorial introduces the concept of dissonance and distance between images and the viewer. Our world is heavily saturated by images — more images than our brain has the capacity to carefully interrogate or read. Thus, a surface-level interpretation of photographs across a variety of context becomes normative within modern and developed societies. This tendency towards the interpretative shorthand does not accommodate mutually across the varied contexts that images come in and it is often at the face of overwhelming abundance that a desensitized attitude emerges in response. Among the contexts where visual desensitization will be analyzed more in-depthly the relationship between humanitarian media and indifference, as well as the dissonance felt between virtual life observed and one’s perception of reality.
Preceptorial Leader: Dyana Wing So, C’15
Preceptorial Organizer: Charity Migwi
Date and Time: TBD
The Biology of Beauty
Description: Join Dr. Chatterjee as he talks about the nature of beauty and what we know about its biological basis from psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary theory.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Anjan Chatterjee, Center for Neuroscience and Society
Preceptorial Organizer: Veena Krish
A Spoonful of Delicious Neuroeconomics
Description: What happens when you combine psychology, economics and neuroscience? Taste the convergence with cups of gelato as Professor Kable discusses neural currency.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Joseph Kable, Center for Neuroscience and Society
Preceptorial Organizer: Veena Krish
Are Six Hours Really Enough? The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive Performance and Health
Description: Modern industrialized societies require more people to be awake more of the time, but sufficient sleep is needed to prepare the brain for the next wake period and guarantee high levels of cognitive performance. Why do humans often ignore the biological imperatives of sleep? What are the consequences to health and safety of ignoring it? What do we know about the dynamics of sleep need, and how sleep loss tricks the brain into believing it alert? This preceptorial reviews the causes and consequences of sleep loss in industrialized societies, an some technology developments designed to prevent the risks posed by sleep loss.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Mathias Basner
Preceptorial Organizer: Veena Krish
Mind Wars
Description: This preceptorial will focus on Moreno’s work on the ethical and policy issues raised by the military implications of neuroscience, with special reference to his book Mind Wars (2012). He will conclude with some remarks about his new book, Impromptu Man (2014), which includes a review of the way his father’s pioneering ideas about group dynamics and improvisation were used by the US and UK in World War II.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Jonathan Moreno
Preceptorial Organizer: Veena Krish
PREC 707.001 Can You Do the Brain Wave?
Description: Not only is dance an artform, but it is now a part of the new wave of music/dance-neuroscience integrative research! How does the brain simplify complex dance moves, learn motor movements, and follow rhythm in dance, particularly pole dancing? Join Penn Neuroscience Society on the pole of discovery!
Preceptorial Leader: Penn Neuroscience Society
Preceptorial Organizer: Sibel Ozcelik
Date and Time: TBD
PREC 717.001 Shake Your Neuron Like a Belly Dancer!
Description: A beautiful performance can move you to tears, but can it trigger much more? Can it mirror behavior? Come belly dance, experience dance/movement theraphy and learn about mirror neurons with Penn Neuroscience Society!
Preceptorial Leader: Penn Neuroscience Society
Preceptorial Organizer: Sibel Ozcelik
Date and Time: TBD
PREC 608.001 Meditation and the Brain: Science and Experience
Description: Meditation and mindfulness practices have been associated with a wide range of mental and physical benefits including increased social connectedness, cognitive flexibility, emotion regulation, and immune function. The practices have also been shown to buffer against the adverse effects of stress, anxiety, and depression. What does neuroscience have to tell us about meditation and the brain? What is mindfulness? We will discuss the growing body of research on this topic, followed by a short, guided session of mindfulness meditation.
Preceptorial Leader: Ms. Denise Clegg, Managing Director of the Center for Neuroscience & Society
Preceptorial Organizer: Veena Krish
PREC 609.001 Antidepressants and Society
Description: Antidepressant medications are among the most widely-used medical treatments in this country. They are given, very often by non-specialists, for a broad range of conditions, from dissatisfaction with life to problems with anxiety, to severe, chronic depression. What do we know about their effects, both short term and long-term, in these various conditions? (Surprisingly little.) What factors have led to their widespread use, what do we need to understand much better than we do now, and what, if anything, should we change about the way in which we use these medicines, while we await more comprehensive information about their benefits and costs, in the broadest sense?
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Robert DeRubeis, Professor and Chair of Psychology Department
Preceptorial Organizer: Veena Krish
PREC 611.001 Music and the Brain: Part 1
**For students who have NOT taken the “Music and the Brain” preceptorial in the past (Fall 2009, Spring 2010, NSO 2011, and Fall 2011) or heard Dr. Kaplan’s music cognition lecture in BIBB 109.**
Description: Though not strictly necessary for survival, music is a part of every known human culture. Parallels between musical systems and practices in many and far-flung cultures point to a biological origin in the brain. An introduction to the study of music as a biological phenomenon, this lecture looks at topics including the biological basis of consonance and dissonance, perfect pitch, and the relation of music and language.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Michael Kaplan, Laboratory Instructor, Biological Basis of Behavior (BBB) Program
Preceptorial Organizer: Amalya Lehmann
If you have any questions about this preceptorial, please contact the preceptorial organizer listed and not the professor. Thank you.
PREC 612.001 Music and the Brain: Part 2
**For students who have taken the “Music and the Brain” preceptorial in the past (Fall 2009, Spring 2010, NSO 201, Fall 2011, and Spring 2012) or heard Dr. Kaplan’s music cognition lecture in BIBB 109 only.**
Description: Intended as a follow up to Dr. Kaplan’s introductory lecture on music as a biological phenomena, this lecture expands upon some of the topics from Part 1 and also moves into new topics including rhythm, music and emotion, and how music training changes the brain.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Michael Kaplan, Laboratory Instructor, Biological Basis of Behavior (BBB) Program
Preceptorial Organizer: Amalya Lehmann
If you have any questions about this preceptorial, please contact the preceptorial organizer listed and not the professor. Thank you.
PREC 619.001 The Singularity: What if computers achieve superhuman intelligence?
Description: Computers will soon have more raw computing power and memory than human brains, and many scientists believe that computers will, in your lifetime, be vastly smarter in all ways than any human. (Many other scientists believe this is ridiculous.) The rapid transition from humans to computers as the dominant source of intelligence has been called “the singularity.” We will talk about what intelligence is (not just human, but any intelligence) about predictions of when and how the singularity might happen, and about what effect it might have on humanity.
Preceptorial Leader: Professor Lyle Ungar, Associate Professor of:(SEAS): Computer and Information Science, Bioengineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Electrical and Systems Engineering,(Whorton): Operations and Information Management, (School of Medicine): Genomics and Computational Biology
Preceptorial Organizer: Darren Yin
PREC 628.001 A Boxing Brain
Description: A great boxer, Muhammad Ali once said, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” but what does that actually mean? How can you actually do those two actions at the same time? Or any action for that matter? The Penn Undergraduate Neuroscience Society will explain how the brain controls movement and discuss current research with the help of some of Penn Medical School’s graduate students. During session two, we’ll head downtown to see theory put to action, literally, as we learn kickboxing at Brazen Boxing & MMA. Get ready to train your mind and your body!
Preceptorial Leader: Mr. Dara Bakar, Penn Neuroscience
Preceptorial Organizer: Sibel Ozcelik
A Spoonful of Delicious Neuroeconomics
Description: What happens when you combine psychology, economics and neuroscience? Taste the convergence with cups of gelato as the Penn Undergraduate Neuroscience Society and Professor Joseph Kable discuss the neural currency.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Joseph Kable, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Preceptorial Organizer: Ankur Roy
More Than Just Those Eight Hours: Time Use, Sleep Loss, and Performance
Description: Modern industrialized societies require more people to be awake more of the time, but sufficient sleep is needed to prepare the brain for the next wake period and guarantee high levels of cognitive performance. Why do humans often ignore the biological imperatives of sleep? What are the consequences to health and safety of ignoring it? What do we know about the dynamics of sleep need, and how sleep loss tricks the brain into believing it alert? This preceptorial reviews the causes and consequences of sleep loss in industrialized societies, an some technology developments designed to prevent the risks posed by sleep loss.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Mathias Basner, Professor of Psychology
Preceptorial Organizer: Ankur Roy
Music and the Brain: Part 1
**For students who have NOT taken the “Music and the Brain” preceptorial in the past (Fall 2009, Spring 2010, NSO 2011, Fall 2011, or Spring 2012) or heard Dr. Kaplan’s music cognition lecture in BIBB 109.**
Description: Though not strictly necessary for survival, music is a part of every known human culture. Parallels between musical systems and practices in many and far-flung cultures point to a biological origin in the brain. An introduction to the study of music as a biological phenomenon, this lecture looks at topics including the biological basis of consonance and dissonance, perfect pitch, and the relation of music and language.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Michael Kaplan, Laboratory Instructor, Biological Basis of Behavior (BBB) Program
Preceptorial Organizer: Amalya Lehman
Music and the Brain: Part 2
**For students who have taken the “Music and the Brain” preceptorial in the past (Fall 2009, Spring 2010, NSO 201, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, and NSO 2012) or heard Dr. Kaplan’s music cognition lecture in BIBB 109 only.**
Description: Intended as a follow up to Dr. Kaplan’s introductory lecture on music as a biological phenomena, this lecture expands upon some of the topics from Part 1 and also moves into new topics including rhythm, music and emotion, and how music training changes the brain.
Preceptorial Leader: Dr. Michael Kaplan, Laboratory Instructor, Biological Basis of Behavior (BBB) Program
Preceptorial Organizer: Amalya Lehman
Meditation and the Brain: Science and Experience
Description: Meditation and mindfulness practices have been associated with a wide range of mental and physical benefits including increased social connectedness, cognitive flexibility, emotion regulation, and immune function. The practices have also been shown to buffer against the adverse effects of stress, anxiety, and depression. What does neuroscience have to tell us about meditation and the brain? What is mindfulness? We will discuss the growing body of research on this topic, followed by a short, guided session of mindfulness meditation.
Preceptorial Leader: Denise Clegg, MAPP, Managing Director, Center for Neuroscience & Society