Lizzy Foley
\nCOLL-118
\nNeuroscience and the Humanities<\/p>\n
During common hour on December 1st, Trinity Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (TIIS) featured a panel discussion on Neuroscience and the Humanities. The panel included three professors: Aaron Seider, Ph.D. from the Classics Department at College of the Holy Cross, Johannes Evelein, Ph.D. from the Language and Culture Studies at Trinity College, and Elizabeth Casserly, Ph.D. from the Psychology Department and Neuroscience program at Trinity College. Ultimately, each professor presented on the relevance and function of memories within their respective discipline. Then, together they answered questions from the audience.
\nProfessor Casserly began first, describing the concepts what it means to \u201cknow\u201d and \u201cremember\u201d something. She suggested that the act of knowing is results of the formation of a neural network, what we consider a memory. Thus, the act of remembering is the activation of such network. She then mentioned that as we age, and our own self-concept as well as ideas that make up our neural network change, then our memories will change accordingly. This exposes the ideas of memory inaccuracy and inherent error in our own process of metacognition. Specifically, Professor Casserly mentioned a longitudinal study that recorded individuals recount of the terrorist attacks on 9\/11, just after the events occurred. Researchers then followed up with the same subjects years later asking for them to recall what they remember. It was found that across the board, there were major inconsistencies between what was originally reported and what subjects later described, ultimately supporting the idea that changes of self-concept will affect the retrieval of a memory.
\nAnother interesting study mentioned by Professor Casserly was concentrated on memory in terms of both recall and recognition of the apple logo. Interestingly enough, the study finding suggests that participants were overconfident in their ability to free draw and point out the correct apple logo. The results indicate that such overconfidence could be reduced if the participants attempted to draw or point out the apple logo before making judgments about their ability to do so.
\nNext, visiting Professor Seider spoke on the importance of memory to the Roman people. Just like Professor Casserly, he mentioned that memories change with time. He described that buildings were once inscribed with the names of the financial contributor. He recounted an instance of a particular building being burnt to the ground and reconstructed years later with the same inscription. To the romans, these buildings represented a resolute and solid form of memory. Professor Seider used this anecdote as a method to illustrate the inevitable nature of memory inaccuracy, because if a building was destroyed and remade it is inherently changed, therefore the inscription with the financial contributor\u2019s name is effectively an inaccurate memory.
\nFinally, Professor Evelein talked about the documented memories of various European exiles. He described the emotions such as isolation and regret that may affect a memory when thought of retrospectively. This was in line with the previous talks of Professor Casserly and Professor Seider that touched upon the nature of memory reconstruction when the individual themselves has a changed in the way they view themselves. Professor Evelein left the audience with an quote by Salmon Rushdie which was a great example of the intersection of multiple disciplines: neuroscience, history, and literature: \u201cMemory has its own special kind. It selects, eliminates, alters, exaggerates, minimizes, glorifies, and vilifies also; but in the end it creates its own reality, its heterogeneous but usually coherent version of events; and no sane human being ever trusts someone else’s version more than his own.\u201d
\nAttending this panel left me with a strong sense of the importance of interdisciplinary studies. Concepts such as memory are so vast that they must be considered through the eyes of multiple disciplines in order to gain a true understanding. Ultimately, being exposed to the intellectual diversity of different disciplines opens the door for increased capacity to make larger connections and problem solve. After attending the talk during common hour, I believe that panels such as neuroscience and the humanities should be held much more frequently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lizzy Foley COLL-118 Neuroscience and the Humanities During common hour on December 1st, Trinity Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (TIIS) featured a panel discussion on Neuroscience and the Humanities. The panel included three professors: Aaron Seider, Ph.D. from the Classics Department … Continue reading