MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2013 Activities by Category - Philosophy, Linguistics, and Cognitive Science

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A Look Inside the Human Brain: MEG, MRI, PET, & TMS

Dimitrios Pantazis, Head of MEG Lab

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

Modern imaging technologies at MIT and MGH provide exciting new ways to understand the structure and function of the human brain. We will provide guided tours of our imaging facilities and show how we use these tools to look inside the brain. Our recently installed MEG scanner, capable of measuring magnetic fields a billionth of the magnetic field of earth, can record the simultaneous firing of thousands of cortical neurons as they form dynamic networks.  Our MRI scanner provides high resolution images of the human brain as subjects perform a wide range of perceptual and cognitive tasks. Our PET scanners can reveal the localization of specific molecules in the brain, revealing pathologies that may underlie many different brain disorders. TMS is a noninvasive method that uses electromagnetic induction to induce weak electric currents and cause depolarization or hyperpolarization in the neurons of the brain. We will introduce these technologies, and discuss their contribution to neuroscience and current projects at MIT and MGH.

Contact: Dimitrios Pantazis, 46-5147, 617 324-6292, PANTAZIS@MIT.EDU


Seminar on Magnetoencephalography

Jan/15 Tue 01:00PM-02:30PM 46-1015

Topics include electrophysiological basis of MEG signals, instrumentation, modeling, cortical rhythms, brain networks, combining MEG with fMRI

Dimitrios Pantazis - Head of MEG Lab, Yu-Teng Chang - Post-doctoral Associate, Radoslaw Cichy - Post-doctoral Associate


A tour at the MEG Lab

Jan/17 Thu 01:00PM-02:30PM 46-1147

A tour at the MEG Lab, demo scan and data analysis of an MEG experiment

MEG Lab: http://mcgovern.mit.edu/technology/meg-lab

Dimitrios Pantazis - Head of MEG Lab, Kleovoulos Tsourides - Research Associate


Seminar on Positron Emission Tomography

Jan/22 Tue 01:00PM-02:30PM 46-3015

Introduction to PET technology and scanners at MGH, and applications in tumor detection, brain metabolic activity, gene expression, neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, pharmacology etc.

Quanzheng Li - Assistant Professor


Seminar on Transcranial Magnetic Stim.

Jan/24 Thu 01:00PM-02:30PM 46-3015

Use of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to depolarize and hyperpolarize neurons of the brain, applications to treat depression and examine basic mechanisms of post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, among others.

Tommi Raij - Instructor in Radiology


Seminar on Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Jan/29 Tue 01:00PM-02:30PM 46-3015

Topics include MRI hardware, BOLD responses, diffusion imaging, safety, and more.

Anastasia Yendiki - Assistant Professor, Steven P Shannon - Operations Manager and MR Research Technologist, Sheeba Arnold Anteraper - MR Programmer


A tour at the MRI Lab

Jan/31 Thu 11:00AM-12:00PM 46-1171

A tour at the MRI lab. Demo scan (finger tapping) and data analysis.

MRI Lab: http://mcgovern.mit.edu/technology/martinos-imaging-center/technical-resources

Steven P Shannon - Operations Manager and MR Research Technologist, Sheeba Arnold Anteraper - MR Programmer


Critical Reasoning Boot Camp

Sally Haslanger, Professor of Philosophy

Jan/14 Mon 01:00PM-03:00PM 32-D461
Jan/16 Wed 01:00PM-03:00PM 32-D461
Jan/18 Fri 01:00PM-03:00PM 32-D461

Enrollment: Sign-up desirable but not required
Sign-up by 01/13
Limited to 60 participants
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: none

The ability to recognize, analyze, and evaluate arguments is an important life skill that everyone should have. This course will help students acquire and hone this skill. We will look at elementary logic, common fallacies, and probabilistic reasoning. We will also analyze real-world arguments to find their weak points.

Sponsor(s): Linguistics and Philosophy
Contact: Sally Haslanger, 32-D926, 617 253-4458, SHASLANG@MIT.EDU


Is the Bible Reliable? Building the Historical Case

Chris Swanson

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

Is the Bible a book of myths and fairy tales, or is it a book of history and truth?  Come for a compelling and intellectually stimulating defense of the reliability of the Bible, presented by Dr. Stephen Meyer.  This is a 5 part series, including lecture and discussion.  Optional free dinner before at 5pm.  RSVP for dinner to fanqig@mit.edu.  

Sponsor(s): Campus Crusade for Christ
Contact: Chris Swanson, CSWANSON@MIT.EDU


Is the Bible Reliable? - Session 1

Jan/08 Tue 05:30PM-07:00PM 4-159

This session will look at the Patriarchal Narratives (found in Genesis) and the Documentary Hypothesis, as well as examine the Biblical accounts of the Exodus (the Israelite journey from Egypt to Canaan).  Are these accounts mere religious propaganda or is there evidence that supports their historical accuracy?  Free Dinner available before at 5pm.  Email fanqig@mit if you want to come for the dinner.  


Is the Bible Reliable? - Session 2

Jan/10 Thu 05:30PM-07:00PM 4-159

This session will examine the Biblical records of the Israeliste conquest of Canaan and the time period under King David and King Solomon.  Archaeological evidence will be presented to support the accounts recorded in the Bible.   Free Dinner available before at 5pm.  Email fanqig@mit if you want to come for the dinner.  She will let you know the location of the meal.  


Is the Bible Reliable - Session 3

Jan/15 Tue 05:30PM-07:00PM 4-159

This session will examine the Biblical records of the Assyrian and Babylonia conquests over the Jewish people and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.  You will learn the astonishing amount of agreement between the Bible and archaeology. Free Dinner available before at 5pm.  Email fanqig@mit if you want to come for the dinner.  She will let you know the location of the meal.


Is the Bible Reliable - Session 4

Jan/17 Thu 05:30PM-07:00PM 4-159

The New Testament, although often maligned by critics, is actually the best attested and most reliable document from antiquity. This lesson examines the marks of historicity for the text of the New Testament - the early composition, internal consistency, and reliability of transmission - all of which outdo any other ancient work. Email fanqig@mit if you want to come for free dinner before at 5pm. Location will be emailed.


Is the Bible Reliable? - Session 5

Jan/22 Tue 05:30PM-07:00PM 4-159

This final session will look at the external corroboration of the New Testament as well as the events recording during the trial of Jesus.  Free Dinner available before at 5pm.  Email fanqig@mit if you want to come for the dinner.  She will let you know the location of the meal.


Methods for analyzing neural data

Ethan Meyers, Postdoctoral Associate, BCS, MIBR, Wasim Malik, Instructor in Anesthesia Harvard Medical School, MGH

Jan/28 Mon 03:00PM-04:30PM 46-5056
Jan/30 Wed 03:00PM-04:30PM 46-5056
Feb/01 Fri 03:00PM-04:30PM 46-5056

Enrollment: Unlimited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/23
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

You have just run an exciting neuroscience experience and sitting in front of you is a pile of data. The only thing stopping you from publishing your results in Nature concerns turning that pile of data into clear insights about how the brain works. Well rest assured, after taking this course you well on your way having that exciting new publication on your CV.

In this course we will cover several useful methods for analyzing neural data including conventional statistics, mutual information, point process models and decoding analyses. The emphasis will be on discussing how to apply methods that work best, and explaining the basic mathematical intuitions behind these methods. The examples used will focus on neural spiking activity but we will also discuss other types of signals including MEG signals, and local field potentials. Some familiarity with neuroscience and basic statistics will be useful, but we will try to keep the background knowledge to a minimum.

 

 

Sponsor(s): Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Contact: Ethan Meyers, 46-5155, 617 447-7814, EMEYERS@MIT.EDU


MITing of the Minds

Philosophia

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: None

Each year, MIT’s Philosophy section hosts a conference that brings together current faculty, graduate students and alumni during MIT’s Independent Activities Period. The aim of the conference is to showcase recent work in a variety of areas of philosophy. All are welcome. Refreshments will be provided. A detailed schedule, along with abstracts, will be available in January at bit.ly/mitingoftheminds. The conference will take place in 32-D461. Speakers will include Selim Berker (Harvard), Delia Graff Fara (Princeton), Rae Langton (MIT), Jack Marley-Payne (MIT), Melissa Schumacher (MIT) and Jason Stanley (Rutgers).

Contact: Matthew Mandelkern, MANDELK@MIT.EDU