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    Features

    The Developing Brain

    During fetal development, the foundations of the mind are laid as billions of neurons form appropriate connections and patterns. Neural activity and stimulation are crucial in completing this process

    By Carla J. Shatz

    The Visual Image in Mind and Brain

    In analyzing the distinct attributes of images, the brain invents a visual world. Unusual forms of blindness show what happens when specialized parts of the cortex malfunction

    By Semir Zeki

    Brain and Language

    A large set of neural structures serves to represent concepts; a smaller set forms words and sentences. Between the two lies a crudal layer of mediation

    By Antonio R. Damasio and Hanna Damasio

    Working Memory and the Mind

    Anatomic and physiological studies of monkeys are locating the neural machinery involved in forming and updating internal representations of the outside world. Such representations form a cornerstone of the rational mind

    By Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic

    Aging Brain, Aging Mind

    Late in life the human brain suffers attrition of certain neurons and undergoes chemical alterations. Yet for many people, these changes do not add up to a noticeable decline in intelligence

    By Dennis J. Selkoe

    How Neural Networks Learn from Experience

    Networks of artificial neurons can learn to represent complicated information. Such neural networks may prOvide inSights into the learning abilities of the human brain

    By Geoffrey E. Hinton

    The Problem of Consciousness

    It can now be approached by scientific investigation of the visual system. The solution will require a close collaboration among psychologists, neuroscientists and theorists

    By Christof Koch and Francis Crick

    Departments

    • Letters to the Editors, September 1992

    • The Biological Basis of Learning and Individuality

    • Sex Differences in the Brain

    • Major Disorders of Mind and Brain

    • Hot Potato

    • Recommended

      Book Reviews: September 1992

    • 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago

      50 and 100 Years Ago

    • Profile

      The Frustrations of a Quark Hunter

    • Amateur Scientist

      Neurons for Computers

    • Science and the Citizen

      Gravity Quantized?

    • It Came from Within

    • Noisy Nucleotides

    • Hot Ants

    • Bug in a Gilded Cage

    • Making Water Run Uphill

    • Bent Light

    • Population Pressure

    • Photovores

    • Departments

      Economic Growth Factors

    • Essay: Trouble in Mind

    • Technology and Business

      Major Developers of Genetically Engineered Foods

    • Silver Lining

    • The Hole Story

    • Underground Allies

    • Defensive Driving

    • See-Through View

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    September 1992

    See the World from a Different Perspective

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