The 2008 Holiday Lectures on Science

What is mind?

Can molecular biology help us understand mental function ?

Eric R. Kandel, M.D. and Thomas M. Jessell, Ph.D.of Columbia University will help us understand how the nervous system turns an idea into action—from the complex processing that takes place in the brain to the direct marching orders the spinal cord gives to the muscles. Modern neuroscience equates mind with the organ we call the brain, an astounding network more than 100 billion neurons connected in a vast complicated web. The presenters will help us puzzle out how the brain is organized and identify the seat of human memory. The question of understanding how the brain functions is rivaled by the question of how such a complex network of cells develops in the first place.

Click here to view lecture summaries of the 2008 Holiday Lectures.

© 2008 Howard Hughes Medical Institute. A philanthropy serving society through biomedical research and science education.
4000 Jones Bridge Road Chevy Chase, MD 20815-6789 | (301) 215-8500 | e-mail: webmaster@hhmi.org