Lecture 2
Mental Representation
• What are “representations?
• How do we represent “information” in the brain?
• Three key ideas
• Brief introduction to human brain anatomy
• Split-brain patients
• A model for understanding mental representation
What Are “Representations?”
Things that symbolize or represent other things
Representing Information in the Brain
In our minds/brains we
represent information about ourselves
and our external environment
Representing Information in the Brain
The first key idea
A cheeseburger as it exists
out in the world
Neurons “represent”
represent” that
cheeseburger and allow
you to “see”
see” it
Neurons are the representational medium in the brain.
Representing Information in the Brain
The second key idea
Emotional
Memory
Pain
Language
Body parts
Vision
Math
Sense of self
We represent different kinds of information in different
parts of the brain
Representing Information in the Brain
The third key idea
The brain is flexible in terms of where stuff can be represented
Representing Information in the Brain
The BrainPort
Representing vision and other senses as braille-like bumps
The Human Brain
Basic Anatomy
Left hemisphere
A “gyrus”
gyrus”
Frontal
lobe
Right hemisphere
A “sulcus”
sulcus”
Parietal
lobe
Occipital
lobe
Temporal
lobe
Split-Brains
An example of how the brain’s two hemispheres represent
different pieces or kinds of information
Split-Brains
What the two
Hemispheres see
Bell
What does the right
Hemisphere point at?
music
What does the left
hemisphere say about this?
Split-Brains
The left hemisphere as the “interpreter” of cause
and effect relationships
Split-Brains
The right hemisphere as the face processor
Split-Brains
To summarize
Left
Hemisphere
Right
Hemisphere
speaking
Representing
Faces
Split-Brains
Task: Is answer “right” or “wrong”?
Problem in left visual field (LVF)
and thus done by right hemisphere
Problem in right visual field (RVF)
and thus done by left hemisphere
6
+ 3
-
9
8
3
4
Half the time the problem was actually correct, half the time incorrect
Funnell et al. (2007)
Split-Brains
Which hemisphere is better at math?
LVF RVF
Funnell et al. (2007)